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The Psychology of the Negro 

AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY 



GEORGE OSCAR FERGUSON. A. M. 



RKPRINT OF 

ARCHIVES OF PSYCHOLOGY 

No. 36. Api»IL. X016 



PSVCHOLOOT. VOLUMK X'XV, ISTO. 1 



SUBMITTISD IN PARTIAL FUXJEnLMENT OF" THK 

WRQaiKKArENTS FOR mXR DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHTIiOSOPHY 

IN THE FAOUI/TY OF PHILOSOPHY 

CX)IitJMBIA UNIVERSITY 



NBJW YORK 
1016 



The Psychology of the Negro 

AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY 



BY 

GEORGE OSCAR FERGUSON. Jr.. A. M. 



REPRINT OF 

ARCHIVES OF PSYCHOLOGY 

No. 36, April, 1916 



Columbia University Contributions to Philosophy ano 
PeYCHOi.OQY, Volume XXV, No. 1 



SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE 

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHIIiOSOPHY 

IN THE FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY 

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 



NEW YORK 
1916 






Ifl? 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Review of Work Previously Done 1 

Non-Experimental Studies, 2. 

Boas, 2; Le Bon, 4; Tylor, 4; Hall, 5; Odum, 7; Bardin, 
8; Galton, 8; Thorndike, 8, 

Experimental Studies, 9. 

Bache, 9; Smith, 10; Stetson, 10; McDonald, 10; Wood- 
worth, 11; Mayo, 13; Phillips, 14; Strong, 17; Baldwin, 
19; Pyle, 20. 

Neurological Studies, 22. 

Bean, 22; Mall, 23; Hrdlicka, 24; Summary of Chapter 
25. 

II. The Subjects and the Tests 27 

The Subjects, 27. 

White and Negro Population and Education in the 
Localities Tested, 27; Relative Action of Selective 
Factors upon Whites and Negroes in Schools, 28; 
Number and Distribution of Subjects Tested, 32; Com- 
parative Ages of Whites and Negroes Tested, 35. 

The Tests, 37. 

Mixed Relations Test, 37; Completion Test, 39; Maze 
Test, 41; Cancellation Test, 41; Method of Giving the 
Tests, 41; Method of Scoring, 42; Reliability of Short 
Tests, 45. 

III. General Comparison of Whites and Negroes. . . 46 

Treatment of Data, 46. 

Mixed Relations Test, 50. 

Relative Ability of Pupils of the Same Age but Dif- 
ferent Grades, 55. 

Completion Test, 61. 

Maze Test, 66. 

Cancellation Test, 75. 

Relative Variability of Speed and Accuracy in Tests, 
79; Racial Sex Differences, 83. 



IV. Comparison of Sub-Classes of Negroes 84 

Number and Distribution of Pure Negroes and Mulat- 
toes in the United States, 84. 

Views of other Writers, 87. 

Boas, 87; Hall, 88; Jordan, 88; Le Bon, 89; Baker, 89; 
Stone, 90. 

The Classification, 90. 

Numbers and Ages, 92. 

Standing in the Tests, 95. 

Treatment of Data, 95; Mixed Relations Test, 95; 
Completion Test, 105; Relation Between Skin Color 
and Racial Purity, 110. 

Comparative Variabilities, 111. 

Significance of Variability, 113; Methods of Measur- 
ing Variability, 113; Results, 114. 

V. Conclusion 123 

General Summary of Conclusions, 123; Ability of 
Mulattoes, 125; Educational Considerations, 125; Com- 
parison of Whites and Negroes in Terms of the Num- 
ber of Eminent Men to be Expected from Each Race, 
127; Considerations Bearing upon the Future of the 
Negro, 128; Death Rate of Whites and Negroes, 131. 

References 133 

Appendix 136 



AUTHOR'S NOTE 

The author wishes to express his thanks 

To Superintendents J. A. C. Chandler, of Richmond, and 
E. F. Birckhead, of Fredericksburg; to Acting-Superintendent 
E. W. Huffman, of Newport News; to Principals J. H. Brent, 
S. D. Turner, W. G. Jones and J. C. Harwood, of Richmond, 
W. L. Ransone, of Fredericksburg, and D. A. Dutrow, of 
Newport News ; and to the teachers whose grades were tested, 
for their cooperation in this study; 

To Professors J. McK. Cattell and E. L. Thorndike, and 
Dr. A. T. Poffenberger, Jr., of Columbia University, for their 
helpful suggestions; 

To Colonel Clarence Hodson, of Newark, for his thoughtful 
interest and kind assistance in the preparation of the work; 

To Professor R. S. Woodworth, of Columbia University, 
for his constant readiness to aid, his helpfulness in many 
ways during the course of the research, and his many kind- 
nesses. 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO- 
AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY 



CHAPTER I 

REVIEW OF WORK PREVIOUSLY DONE 

Interest in the psychology of the negro has produced a 
voluminous Hterature, but the knowledge to be obtained from 
a reading of it is not commensurately extensive. It may be 
not unjustly said that until what is practically the present 
time our information as to the negro's intellectual character- 
istics has been almost wholly a product of varying individual 
opinion and speculation. Here and there have appeared works 
of value, based upon study and experience and presenting 
carefully drawn conclusions. But for the most part the litera- 
ture consists of articles which have grown out of limited and 
untrustworthy observation, and of articles which have attacked 
the problem from the standpoint of preconceived theories and 
have reached conclusions a priori from the premises thus held. 
There has been no settled body of doctrine concerning the 
vastly important matter of the mental capacity of the negro. 
One man has held that the negro is the equal of the white in 
intellect; another has held that a great intellectual gulf sep- 
arates the two races. And there have been many varieties of 
views between these two extremes. There have been no facts 
agreed upon and consequently no reliable generalizations. Yet 
social practices of far-reaching importance have been based 
upon these varying views. Some school systems have advo- 
cated giving precisely the same training to precisely the same 
racial minds; other systems have advocated a differentiation 
of school work to meet the needs of two mentally different 
races ; the advocates of both views have put their beliefs into 



2 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

practice. Many social and political considerations have of 
course had their bearing upon these educational matters, but 
certainly ideas as to the nature of the mind of the negro have 
not been without influence. And the social and political con- 
siderations themselves have had a psychological background. 

In the last few years a number of objective studies of the 
intellect of the negro have been made, and they constitute a 
definite step toward a scientific answer to the vexed question 
upon which they bear. It is the purpose of the present chapter 
to review the experimental work which has been done in this 
limited field of race psychology and also some of that which 
has not been experimental. In the following chapters will 
be set forth the results of an objective study which it is hoped 
will contribute in some measure toward an answer to the 
problem. 

Non-Experimental Studies 

In discussing "human faculty as determined by race," 
Boas, in an early article ('94), the substance of which is in- 
corporated in a later work ('11), pointed out that while the 
skull capacity of modern European whites is 1560 cc. and that 
of European whites of the neolithic period is the same, the 
skull capacity of the mongaloid race is 1510 cc, that of the 
negroes of the Pacific ocean is 1460 cc. and that of African 
negroes is 1405 cc. The negroes, too, were at least as tall 
as Europeans. Another way of putting it is to say that while 
50 per cent, of whites have skull capacities of 1560 cc, only 27 
per cent, of negroes equal or exceed this skull capacity. 
Further, "We find that the face of the negro as compared 
to the skull is larger than that of the American, whose face 
is in turn larger than that of the white. The lower portion 
of the face assumes larger dimensions. The aveolar arch is 
pushed forward and thus gains an appearance which reminds 
us of the higher apes. There is no denying that this feature 
is a most constant character of the black races and that it rep- 
resents a type slightly nearer the animal than the European 
type." ('94,p. 311). "Our conclusion is, that there are differ- 
ences between the physical characters of races which make 
it probable that there may be differences in faculty. No un- 
questionable fact, however, has been found yet which would 
prove beyond a doubt that it will be impossible for certain 
races to attain a higher civilization." ('94, p. 317). 

In a later article ('01, p. 3), Boas argues as follows: "A 



REVIEW OF WORK PREVIOUSLY DONE. 3 

number of anatomical facts point to the conclusion that the 
races of Africa, Australia and Melanasia are to a certain extent 
inferior to the races of Asia, America and Europe. We find 
that on the average the size of the brain of the negroid races 
is less than the size of the brain of other races, and the differ- 
ence in favor of the Mongaloid and white races is so great 
that we are justified in assuming a certain correlation be- 
tween their mental ability and the increased size of their 
brains. At the same time it must be borne in mind that the 
variability of the mongaloid and white races on the one hand, 
and of the negroid races on the other, is so great that only 
a small number, comparatively speaking, of the individuals 
belonging to the latter have brains smaller than any brains 
found among the former; and that, on the other hand, only a 
few individuals of the mongaloid races have brains so large 
that they would not occur at all among the black races. That 
is to say, the bulk of the two groups of races have brains of 
the same capacities, but individuals with heavy brains are 
proportionately more frequent among the mongaloid and white 
races than among the negroid races. Probably this differ- 
ence in size of the brain is accompanied by differences in 
structure, although no satisfactory information on this point 
is available." 

Boas then takes up the argumpnts that primitive races 
cannot abstract, inhibit impulses or choose according to 
standards of value. His contention is that primitive man does 
do tnese things, but that he does them from his own pomt 
of view and to meet his own needs, and not in the same way 
that civilized man does them. Similarly with the argument 
that while a savage can perceive well in a sensory way, he 
cannot interpret phenomena: he does interpret phenomena, 
but from his own point of view, as is the case with all men. 
"Our considerations make it probable that the wide differences 
between the manifestations of the human mind in various 
stages of culture may be due almost entirely to the form of 
individual experience, which is determined by the geographical 
and social environment of the individual. It would seem that, 
in the different races, the organization of the mind is on the 
whole alike, and that the varieties of mind found in different 
races do not exceed, perhaps not even reach, the amount of 
normal individual variation in each race." ('01, p. 11). 

A radically different opinion from that of Boas is held by 



4 ', THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

Le Bon. ('98). This author holds that the human race may 
be divided into four groups on the basis of psychological char- 
acteristics: (1) Primitive races, such as the Fuegians and 
the aboriginal Australians, (2) Inferior races, such as the 
negroes, (3) Average races, such as the Chinese, Japanese, 
Mongolians and Semitic peoples, (4) Superior races, which 
are the Indo-Europeans. "No confusion is possible between 
the four great divisions we have just enumerated. The men- 
tal abyss that separates them is evident." ('98, p. 28) . The 
specific differences which separate the primitive and inferior 
peoples from those which are higher are that the former races 
have a relative incapacity to reason or associate, to com- 
pare and draw conclusions, to attend, observe and reflect, to 
exercise foresight, to persist in a given line of activity, to hold 
to a distant rather than a present end. These differences are 
practically ineradicable, and they determine the achievement 
of the races. "The various elements of the civilization of a 
people being only the outward signs of its mental constitution, 
the expression of certain modes of feeling and thinking peculiar 
to a people, these elements cannot be transmitted unchanged 
to peoples of a different mental constitution: all that can be 
transmitted is the exterior, superficial, and unimportant 
forms." ('98, p. 233). 

Races of men also differ in the relative size of their brains, 
according to Le Bon. From measurements of the volume of 
several thousand skulls, he concludes that the differences are 
real, though not very considerable. And he further draws 
the interesting conclusion that the more civilized races display 
a much greater divergence from their average brain size than 
do the races which are backward. Thus the higher races 
have more very large and very small brains than primitive 
people, relatively to their average; the brains of the inferior 
races conform more nearly to their average type. 

Tylor writes ('04, pp. 74-75) : "There seems to be in man- 
kind inbred temperament and inbred capacity of mind 

In measuring the minds of the lower races, a good test is how 
far their children are able to take a civilized education. The 
account generally given by European teachers who have had 
the children of lower races in their schools is that, though 
they often learn as well as the white children up to about 
twelve years old, they then fall off, and are left behind by 
the children of the ruhng race. This fits with what anatomy 



REVIEW OF WORK PREVIOUSLY DONE. 5 

teaches of the less developed brain in the Australian and Afri- 
can than in the European. It agrees also with what the his- 
tory of civilization teaches, that up to a certain point savages 
and barbarians are like what our ancestors were and our 
peasants still are, but from this common level the superior 
intellect of the progressive races has raised their nations to 
heights of culture." 

"Moreover, there is this plain difference between low and 
high races of men, that the dull-minded barbarian has not 
power of thought enough to come up to the civilized man's 

best moral standard Much of the wrong-doing of the 

world comes from want of imagination The lower 

races of men are so wanting in foresight to resist passion and 
temptation, that the moral balance of a tribe easily goes 
wrong, while they are rough and wantonly cruel through 
want of intelligent sympathy with the sufferings of others, 
much as children are cruel to animals through not being able 
to imagine what the creatures feel." ('04, pp. 407-408). 

In discussing racial brain differences Tylor says : "Professor 
Flower gives as a mean estimate of the contents of skulls, 
Australian, seventy-nine; African, eighty-five; European, 
ninety-one. Eminent anatomists also think that the brain of 
the European is somewhat more complex in its convolutions 
than the brain of a Negro or Hottentot. Thus, though these 
observations are far from perfect, they show a connection 
between a more full and intricate system of brain-cells and 
fibres, and a higher intellectual power, in the races which have 
risen in the scale of civilization. 

"It is often possible to tell by inspection of a skull what 
race it belongs to. The narrow cranium of the negro would 

not be mistaken for the broad cranium of the Samoyed 

Taking the diameter from back to front as 100, the cross- 
diameter gives the so-called index of breadth, which is about 
70 in the Negro, 80 in the European, and 85 in the Samoyed. 

The Austrahan and African are prognathous or "forward 

jawed,' while the European is orthognathous, or 'upright- 
jawed.' At the same time the Australian and African have 
more retreating foreheads than the European, to the disadvan- 
tage of the frontal lobes of their brain as compared with ours." 
('04, pp. 60-62). 

G. Stanley Hall's view of the relative mental make-up of 
the negro and the white may be set forth in the following 



6 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

quotations : "No two races in history, taken as a whole, differ 
so much in their traits, both physical and psychic, as the 
Caucasian and the African. The color of the skin and the 
crookedness of the hair are only the outward signs of many 
far deeper differences, including cranial and thoracic capacity, 
proportions of body, nervous system, glands and secretions, 
vita sexualis, food, temperament, disposition, character, 
longevity, instincts, customs, emotional traits and diseases. 
All these differences, as they are coming to be better under- 
stood, are seen to be so great as to qualify if not imperil every 
inference from one race to another, whether theoretical or 
practical, so that what is true and good for one is often false 
and bad for the other." ('05, p. 358). 

"Another racial trait of the negro is found in the sphere 
of sexual development. Special studies show that the negro 
child up to about twelve is quite as bright as the white child ; 
but when this instinct develops it is earlier, more sudden, 
and far more likely permanently to retard mental and moral 
growth than in the white who shoots ahead. Thus the virtues 
and defects of the negro through life remain largely those of 
puberty." ('05, p. 362). 

This last contention of Hall's, that the negro's develop- 
ment comes to what is at least a partial stand-still at puberty, 
occurs in the writings of others who have dealt with the sub- 
ject. Tylor has already been quoted on this point. The idea 
is that after puberty the individual's mental life broadens and 
takes on new aspects: abstraction, a tendency to penetrate 
into the meanings of things, the power to perceive relations, 
and the ability to appreciate logical, aesthetic and moral situa- 
tions. Before adolescence a child's activities are mainly the 
so-called lower mental processes, such as perception, memory 
and the motor responses. The negro, being the lower type, 
fails to attain the post-pubertal traits to the degree that the 
white child attains them, and therefore remains permanently 
on a lower level. But on this level, and in the traits which 
constitute it, he is fully the equal of the white child. Thus, 
while he cannot reach the finer elements of mental attain- 
ment, the negro is yet the equal or the superior of the white 
in sense capacity, rote memory, objective attentiveness, motor 
control, and qualities of a similar nature. Another statement 
from Hall bears upon this : "Mental development after puberty 
is much more uncertain than before. The first twelve years 



REVIEW OF WORK PREVIOUSLY DONE. 7 

of life represent larger and more fundamental qualities. 
Adolescence adds a new story, less stable, very liable to arrest 

at any stage This makes nearly the whole post-pubic 

period critical, peculiarly exposed to dangers from without, 
because it is so plastic and susceptible, and still more so be- 
cause the growth forces that push youth on toward maturity 
are so liable to show signs of exhaustion before their work is 
finished. Hence it follows that length of the growing period 
is one of the most important factors in development. Lower 
races often stop short when sexual maturity is achieved." 
('03, p. 811.) In this connection, Libby ('08), reporting the 
result of an experiment in which he had white high school 
and grammar grade pupils write compositions descriptive of 
a certain sentimental picture, states that the feeling, meaning 
and sentiment of the picture were grasped only by pupils older 
than fourteen years. And Ellison, as reported by Bagley ('09), 
says that children below the age of thirteen do not have 
abstract ideas such as would enable them to give good defini- 
tions. 

Odum ('10, pp. 36-37) agrees with the general idea repre- 
sented in the last two quotations from Hall: "Negro children 
are easily interested, attentive, eager and alert. For the most 
part they are bright and learn easily. In many cases they ap- 
pear brighter than white children of the same age. They 
learn from memory easily and retain little things for some 

length of time They learn readily to do things by 

imitation and become comparatively skilful in a short time. 
.... However, there are many negro children who have an 
almost total lack of mental perception, whose minds are so 
dense that they can scarcely learn anything. The percentage 
of such cases increases with age." This author makes many 
statements, without, however, giving evidence to substantiate 
them, to the effect that the negro child, as shown by experi- 
ments, is brightest — i. e., most able to do and learn simple 
things — at thirteen years of age, and that he is of greatest 
ability — i. e., most able to "grasp and hold that which con- 
fronts the mind" — at eight or nine years of age; that the 
negro's mental development practically ceases at the age of 
about thirteen ; that there is an almost entire absence of sexual 
morality among the great body of negroes, children and adults, 
due to the predominance of their "physical impulses and 
pleasure-pain feelings ;" that the more primal emotions, fear, 



8 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

anger, jealousy, self-exaltation, self -depreciation, sorrow, etc., 
are especially active in the negro ; that dynamically the negro 
is volatile, easily responsive to stimuli, guided by present im- 
pulses, unrestrained — in short, that his life is one of temporary 
emotion rather than of permanent sentiment. 

A recent article by Bardin ('13) argues that there must 
be a connection between racial mental differences and the 
physical differences between races, since both were evolved 
together. And since it is becoming increasingly evident that 
the negro and the white differ mentally, we must therefore 
suppose that there are corresponding neural differences, as 
marked, in their way, as are the external physical signs of race, 
such as skin, hair texture and facial angle. From this posi- 
tion the writer contends that in attempting to modify the 
negro's mind while yet keeping him a physical negro we are 
undertaking the impossible. "It follows, therefore, that pres- 
ent ideals in regard to the solution of our Negro problem 

are biologically fallacious, and impossible of attainment. We 
can never make the Negro like the white man mentally. We 
can never have a bi-racial state based upon an identity of 
ideas and political philosophies in both races." ('13, p. 374). 
This contention is almost identical with that quoted above 
from Le Bon. 

One of the most interesting estimates of the intelligence 
of the negro was made by Francis Galton ('92). In a study 
of the relative capacity of the white and negro races he divided 
each race into sixteen defined grades of ability, eight above 
and eight below its racial average, and considered that the 
intervals separating the grades were equal throughout. After 
a survey of eminent men of each race he came to the conclu- 
sion that the ablest negro ranked two grades below the ablest 
white. Then, by an application of the "law of deviation from 
an average," he held that negroes as a race have two degrees 
of ability less than Europeans. Another way of expressing it 
is to say that the difference between negroes and whites 
in intellectual capacity is about one-eighth of the difference 
between the most eminent man and the lowest idiot. Galton 
then goes on to point out that the experiences of travelers 
among native tribes and the prevalence among negroes of 
feeble intellects furnish confirmation of his estimate. 

After a survey of the available evidence of racial mental 
differences, Thomdike ('10, pp. 67-68) sums up as follows: 



REVIEW OF WORK PREVIOUSLY DONE. tf 

"From all these facts each student may make his own esti- 
mate of the original mental differences of races, and learn at 
least the need of more actual measurements of race differences 
and of intelligence in interpreting them. My own estimate is 
that greater differences will be found in the case of the so- 
called 'higher' traits, such as the capacity to associate and to 
analyze, thinking with parts or elements, and originality, than 
in the case of the sensory and sensori-motor traits, but that 
there will still be very great overlapping. Calling the differ- 
ence between the original capacity of the lowest congenital 
idiot and that of the average modern European 100, I should 
expect the average deviation of one pure race from another 
in original capacity to be below 10 and above 1, and the differ- 
ence between the central tendencies of the most and the least 
gifted races to be below 50 and above 10. I should consider 
3 and 25 as reasonable guesses for the two differences." 

Experimental Studies 

From these studies and opinions of a non-experimental 
nature we may turn to those which are based upon quantita- 
tive investigation. The first attempt at a quantitative study 
of the negro with which the writer is familiar is that by Bache, 
published in 1895. This investigator starts with the assump- 
tion that the more inferior the race, the quicker the reaction 
time. "That the negro is, in the truest sense, a race inferior 
to that of the white can be proved by many facts, and among 
them by the quickness of his automatic movements as com- 
pared with those of the white." ('95, p. 481). The results 
of the tests on twelve whites, eleven Indians and ten negroes 
showed the whites to be the slowest and the Indians to be the 
quickest with auditory, visual and electrical stimulation. The 
speed of the negroes was roughly midway between that of the 
Indians and the whites. The writer explains that the reason 
the negroes were slower than the Indians was that they were 
of mixed white and negro blood and had inherited the effects 
of slavery, while the Indians' mode of life compelled them to 
rely upon quick movement. This explanation is offered to 
strengthen the writer's contention that the Indian is a higher 
race than the negro, and consequently should have a slower re- 
action time. The study is hardly conclusive; the numbers 
tested were too small, and the variabilities of the average re- 



10 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

action times are not given. Certainly the initial assumption 
was not proved by the tests. 

Smith made some association and memory tests upon a 
"typical" negro boy sixteen years of age. The nature of the 
tests is not given, nor are the results set forth. The author's 
general conclusion, plainly unwarranted on the basis of the 
work done, is as follows: "The negro child is psychologically 
different from the white child. In automatic power he is 
superior, but in the power of abstraction, of judgment and 
analysis he is decidedly inferior. This fact must be recognized 
in the school training." ('96, p. 60). 

Stetson ('97) gave a memory test to five hundred white 
and five hundred colored children in the fourth and fifth grades 
of the schools of Washington, D. C. The average age of the 
white children was 11 years; the average age of the colored 
children was 12.57 years. The test was somewhat crude. It 
consisted in reading to the children four verses of four lines 
each, explanations of the verses being given and the class re- 
peating them twice in concert. Later the verses were repro- 
duced orally to the experimenter by each child, and the repro- 
ductions were scored as being 100, 75, 50, or 25 per cent, cor- 
rect. The results showed that the negroes were superior to 
the whites in memory of three of the verses, while the whites 
were superior in memory of one. The average score for the 
four verses was: Whites, 58.09; Colored, 58.27. In other 
words, there was practically no difference in memory capacity 
between the two races. But in school studies the average 
rank of the white children was 74.32, while the average rank 
of the colored was 64.73. This superiority of the whites in 
school work led the author to conclude that the negroes were 
deficient in reasoning power, since the test showed that they 
were not deficient in memory. This conclusion, of course, is 
subject to criticism on the ground that a number of other fac- 
tors may have been responsible for the academic inferiority 
of the colored children. 

McDonald studied 91 colored children by means of physical 
and mental tests. His conclusions are summarized as fol- 
lows: "Among the boys and girls the per cent, of long heads 
is much greater after puberty than before. This is also true 
of white boys but not of white girls. The colored boys are 
more sensitive to heat and locality after puberty than before. 
The reverse is true with the white boys, but the colored girls, 



REVIEW OF WORK PREVIOUSLY DONE. H 

like the white girls, are less sensitive after puberty 

Colored children are much more sensitive to heat than white 

children Colored girls have larger circumference of 

head at all ages than white girls White children, rela- 
tively to their height, are longer bodied than colored children. 
The percentage of long-headedness among colored boys is more 
than double that of white boys." ('99, pp. 1141-1143). The 
writer states that from a table based on teachers' estimates 
of the brightness, dullness and mediocrity of colored children, 
(number indefinite), it appears that the percentage of bright 
children, both boys and girls, increases rapidly between the 
ages of seven and eight, and continues to increase slightly 
until the age of thirteen. From thirteen to sixteen the per- 
centage of bright pupils decreases rapidly. It would seem 
that the results of this work should be verified by other inves- 
tigators before being accepted. The chances for error in the 
mental tests used are considerable, and the composition of 
the various groups tested is not quite clear. 

The foregoing experimental studies, all of which were 
made prior to 1900, emphasize the need of a careful technique 
in the quantitative handling of this question. The opportuni- 
ties for error are very great, and in inexperienced hands 
psychological tests and statistical methods may lead to results 
that are worse than useless. A field as little worked and as 
inviting as this of the comparative psychology of the white and 
the negro is likely to attract, and has attracted, investigators 
who lack the necessary training— just as it has attracted theo- 
rists who were not adequately grounded in the essentials of 
their work. One would not be far wrong in saying that all of 
the experimental work done on the psychology of the negro 
prior to 1900 is of practically negative value. 

In summarizing the status of scientific race psychology 
in 1910, Woodworth writes as follows:* "One thing the 
psychologist can assert with no fear of error. Starting from 
the various mental processes which are recognized in his text- 
books, he can assert that each of these processes is within 

the capabilities of every group of mankind Statements 

to the contrary, denying to the savage powers of reasoning, 

P^rTJi'^p^"'"^ rrif'^^*^,,^^ Woodworth was that by himself, Bruner. 
Sus^velv ';?th' ,^^^^"^^" ^"d Myers This work had to do almost exl 
mSrll w 1 \f ""'^i capacities of primitive groups, and the sum- 
H here ^°°'^'^°^*^ "^^^^« '^ unnecessary to give a further account of 



12 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

or abstraction, or inhibition, or foresight, can be dismissed at 
once. If the savage dilf ers in these respects from the civilized 
man, the difference is one of degree, and consistent with over- 
lapping of savage and civilized individuals." ('10, pp. 3-4). 

Woodworth then goes on to discuss the evidence in regard 
to the several sense capacities. Natives of Brazil, the steppe- 
dwelling Kalmucks, Papuans, Indians, Filipinos and other races 
have been tested for visual acuity, and found, on the whole, 
to have vision superior to that of the average white, but the 
overlapping between the whites and these races is great. 
"We may perhaps conclude that eyesight is a function which 
varies somewhat in efficiency with difference of race, though 
with much overlapping It did not seem possible, how- 
ever, to assert anything like a correspondence between eye- 
sight and the degree of primitiveness or backwardness of a 

people Even if small differences do exist, it is fairly 

certain that the wonderful feats of distant vision ascribed 
to savages are due to practice in interpreting slight indications 
of familiar objects." ('10, pp. 5-6). In the case of hearing, 
the tests indicate that whites are superior to primitive peoples. 
This superiority may be due in part to the fact that the ears 
of civilized man are better protected from injuries than are 
those of savages, and that the meatus is kept cleaner by the 
white man. Then, too, the white is more familiar with the 
sorts of sound used in the tests than is the savage, and on this 
account may detect them more readily. The few tests that 
have been made for keenness of smell show no higher acuity 
among negroes and Papuans than among Europeans. In ability 
to discriminate two points on the skin the evidence is conflict- 
ing ; on the whole there is probably no appreciable superiority 
in favor of any of the races tested. The experiments which 
have been made to determine the acuity of the pain sense are 
largely vitiated by the fact that savages and civilized men 
have different standards as to what constitutes pain. "On the 
whole," says Woodworth, "the keenness of the senses seems 
to be about on a par in the various races of mankind." 
('10, p. 7). In reaction time, speed of tapping and suscepti- 
bility to illusions, the tests seem to indicate that the different 
races are about equal. 

In discussing tests for intelligence as opposed to sensory 
and motor capacity, the writer points out that the form-board 
is the only test of intelligence which has been used with differ- 



REVIEW OF WORK PREVIOUSLY DONE. 13 

ent races. 'This test was tried on representatives of several 
races, and considerable differences appeared. As between 
whites, Indians, Eskimos, Ainus, Filipinos and Singhalese, the 
average differences were small, and much overlapping occurred. 
As between these groups, however, and the Igorot and Negrito 
from the Philippines and a few reputed Pygmies from the 
Congo, the average differences were great and the overlapping 
was small. Another rather similar test for intelligence which 
was tried on some of these groups, gave them the same rela- 
tive rank. The results of the test agreed closely with the 
general impression left on the minds of the experimenters by 
considerable association with the people tested. And, finally, 
the relative size of the cranium, as indicated, roughly, by the 
product of its three external dimensions, agreed closely in 
these groups with their appearance in intelligence and with 
their standing in the form test. If the results could be taken 
at their face value, they would indicate differences of intelli- 
gence between races, giving such groups as the Pygmy and 
Negrito a low station as compared with most of mankind." 
('10, pp. 10-11). 

One of the important investigations of the mental 
capacity of the negro is that by Mayo ('13), who studied the 
school marks of 150 white and 150 colored high school pupils 
in the schools of New York City. His results can best be 
given in his own words : "To summarize, the following are the 
leading results deduced from the data considered: 

"The median age of white pupils at the time of entering 
high school in the city of New York is 14 years 6 months ; of 
colored pupils 15 years 1 month — a difference of 7 months. 
The average deviation for whites is 9 months ; for colored, 15 
months. Twenty-seven per cent, of the whites are as old as the 
median age of the colored or older. 

"Colored pupils remain in school a greater length of time 
than do the whites. For the cases studied, the average time 
spent in high school for white pupils was 3.8 terms ; for col- 
ored, 4.5 terms. About 28 per cent, of the whites attain the 
average time of attendance for the colored. 

"Considering the entire scholastic record, the median mark 
of the 150 white pupils is 66 ; of the 150 colored pupils 62 ; a 
difference of 4 per cent. The average deviation of white pupils 
is 7 ; of the colored 6.5. Twenty-nine per cent, of the colored 
pupils reach or surpass the median mark of whites. 



14 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

"The white pupils have a higher average standing in all 

subjects The percentage of colored pupils reaching 

the median mark of the whites in the several subjects is as 
follows : Modern languages, 33 ; mathematics, 32 ; history, 31 ; 
the sciences, 29; Latin and Greek, 27; English, 24; the com- 
mercial subjects, 22; and all subjects together, 29. 

"The total number of subjects pursued by the white group 
was 2433; the total number of subjects passed on the first 
trial was 1855; the percentage of subjects passed being 76. 
The total number of subjects pursued by the colored group 
was 2382; the total number of subjects passed on first trial 
was 1379, the percentage of subjects passed being 58. Inter- 
preting these figures as a measure of relative scholastic 
efficiency, the efficiency of colored subjects is 76 per cent, of 
that of the whites ; that is, the colored pupils are about % as 
efficient as the whites in the pursuit of high school studies." 
('13, pp. 44-45). 

These results are significant as they stand, and they be- 
come still more so when it is considered that the colored pupils 
studied were, as Mayo points out, a more closely selected group 
than the whites. How much more closely the negroes were 
selected than the whites is not known. It must also be borne 
in mind that the colored group was not made up of persons 
of pure negro blood. The percentage of mulattoes is not 
stated, but it is probably high. And the presence of mulattoes 
considerably raises the standard of negro attainment, as will 
be shown in a later chapter. Another consideration tending 
to emphasize the racial differences found by Mayo is that the 
colored pupils with whom he dealt were for the most part 
either emigrants from the South or the children of emigrants, 
and that they therefore probably inherited the ability and 
energy which leads the ambitious negro to seek to better his 
condition in the North. On the other hand, it is difficult to 
estimate the white group represented in this study. It con- 
tained English, Germans, Irish, Italians and Jews in indefinite 
numbers, but a random selection of whites was carefully ob- 
served, and the group is probably typical of the white high 
school population of New York. 

Phillips ('12), in a study of retardation in the public ele- 
mentary schools of Philadelphia, found percentages of re- 
tardation as follows in schools attended entirely by colored 
pupils: 68.2, 60.6, 67.3, 70.9, 66.3, 72.8, 58.2, 59.3. The per- 



REVIEW OF WORK PREVIOUSLY DONE. 15 

centages of retardation in the respective school districts in 
which these eight schools were situated were as follows: 41.8, 
44.5, 45.1, 45.1, 37.2, 36.0, 36.0, 33.3. In other words, the per- 
centage of retardation in the colored schools ranged from 72.8 
to 58.2, while the percentage of retardation in the districts 
which contained these schools ranged from 45.1 to 33.3. The 
average percentage of retardation for the city as a whole was 
40.3. Each of the colored schools had a greater percentage 
of retardation than any of the white schools, even those com- 
posed almost entirely of foreigners, and in those schools at- 
tended by both white and colored pupils the percentage of re- 
tardation on the whole varied directly with the percentage of 
colored pupils in attendance. The writer concludes by saying : 
"It is a question whether the course of study is suited to the 
negroes, as the educational results are so far behind those in 
the other schools, and it is very doubtful whether even a 
liberal interpretation of the course of study would meet the 
educational necessities of this group." ('12, p. 90). 

In a later article ('14), Phillips reports the results of an 
attempt to ascertain the causes of this retardation by means 
of an application of the Binet tests to white and colored chil- 
dren of the same chronological age and home conditions, the 
tests being made in all cases by the same individual. "Forty 
colored girls and 46 colored boys, totaling 86, were tested by 
the Binet scale ; 75 white girls and 62 white boys, totaUng 137, 
were likewise tested. The home of each of these 223 pupils 
was visited and the home conditions noted, as Excellent, Good, 
Fair and Poor. In so rating the home, the material (money) , 
intellectual, and moral elements were noted in making up the 
rating. In the following comparison only the white children 
of excellent home conditions are compared with the colored 
children of excellent home conditions ; the white of good home 
conditions with the colored of good home conditions, and so on. 
This method of procedure, of course, necessitated the elimina- 
tion of quite a number of those tested, so that our final com- 
parison was made on 29 each of colored boys and girls re- 
spectively." ('14, p. 191). 

The results are stated as follows : " . . . . we see that of 
those tested 37.9 per cent, of the white boys were retarded, 
while 65.5 per cent, of the colored boys were retarded; that 
46.4 per cent, of the white girls were retarded and 71.4 per 
cent, of the colored girls were retarded ; and that 42.1 per cent. 



16 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

of the white boys and girls combined were retarded, and that 
68.4 per cent, of the colored boys and girls combined were re- 
tarded. This makes the colored boys retarded 17.4 (27.6)* 
per cent, more than the white boys ; the colored girls retarded 
25 per cent, more than the white girls; while the total rate 
of retardation of both groups is 26.3 per cent. 

" we find that 31 per cent, of the colored girls (boys)t 

are accelerated while 62 per cent, of the white girls (boys)t 
are accelerated; that 28.5 of the colored boys (girls) f are 
accelerated and 53.5 per cent, of the white boys (girls) ;t and 
that 29.8 per cent, of colored boys and girls are accelerated 
and 57.8 per cent, of both white girls and boys. This makes a 
difference in the acceleration between the two races of 31 per 
cent, in favor of the white boys, 25 per cent, in favor of the 
white girls, 28 per cent, in favor of the white pupils with boys 
and girls combined. 

"This would seem to corroborate the findings in the case of 
pedagogic retardation. We see in every group, considering the 
retardation from pedagogical or psychological viewpoints, that 
the colored pupils are retarded from 20 to 30 per cent, more 
than the white pupils, and that the white pupils are always 
greatly above them in acceleration." ('14, pp. 191-195). 

It is interesting to note that the total number of pupils 
tested, including those eliminated on account of not having 
comparable home conditions, gives practically the same com- 
parative result as was obtained from the picked group. The 
percentage of retarded pupils in the total colored group was 
54.6; the percentage of retarded pupils in the total white 
group was 24. The percentage of accelerated pupils in the 
total colored group was 6.9; in the total white group it was 
20.4. 

The author concludes as follows: "In applying the Binet 
tests to colored children the following facts of interest were 
fortunately thrust upon our attention. In the first place 
the colored pupils as a class were good in the memory tests 
and poor in those requiring judgment. They were generally 

*This figure should evidently be 27.6 instead of 17.4. It represents 
the difference between the percentages of retardation of white and col- 
ored boys, which are 65.5 and 37.9, as quoted, and also as given in the 
tables which accompany the article. 

fPhillips seems to have made an error here. In order to make the 
i?"^j^4^^^®® with the tables from which they are taken, and also with 
the differences in acceleration as quoted, the words "boys" and "girls" 
should be interchanged as indicated by the brackets. 



REVIEW OF WORK PREVIOUSLY DONE. 17 

slower in response. The testing of the colored children took 
a much longer time than the white. Their reaction time was 
greater, they were less animated. It is significant to note 
that the younger white children were more advanced than the 
colored children of the same age. This is in contradiction 
to the generally accepted fact that colored children are quicker 
when young. 

"If the Binet tests are at all a gauge of mentality it must 
follow that there is a difference in mentality between the col- 
ored and the white children, and this raises the question: 
Should the two groups be instructed under the same cur- 
riculum?" ('14, p. 196). 

The first application of the Binet tests to whites and ne- 
groes was made by Strong, and was reported by her ('13) and 
by Morse ('14). Two hundred and twenty-five white and 
125 colored children were tested in the schools of Columbia, 
S. C. The percentage of children testing more than one year 
below age was 10.2 for the white and 29.4 for the colored. 
The percentage testing more than one year above age was 
5.3 for the white and 0.8 for the colored. The largest group 
of white children was that testing at age; the largest group 
of colored children was that testing one year below age. 

An attempt was made to divide the white children into 
"city children" and "mill children," in order to arrive at a 
conclusion as to how far inferiority in the tests was due to 
poor environment. The environment of the mill children is 
of considerably lower grade than that of the city children, and 
is not markedly different from that of the negroes. When 
this division was made the results showed that 6 per cent, of 
the city children were more than one year below age while 18 
per cent, of the mill children were more than one year back- 
ward. On the face of it, then, this would indicate that the 
comparatively poor showing made by the negroes was in large 
measure due to poor home conditions. But in fact it leaves 
the question still open. For while mill children may have ad- 
verse environment, they may also have poor native capacity 
due to their poor heredity. Their unfavorable surroundings 
may be the product of a lack of inheritable capacity in their 
parents. 

This criticism applies to all attempts to determine the in- 
fluence of environment upon people whose heredity is not 
known to be alike. And yet such efforts are made with 



18 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

seemingly increasing frequency. It should be remembered 
that poor achievement, in psychological tests or in any other 
activity, may be accompanied by inferior social condition and 
yet not be the product of that condition. The achievement 
and the condition may both result from one and same cause, 
lack of native capacity. In such matters as are sought by 
all, such as the ordinary facilities of life and intercourse accord- 
ing to the prevailing standards, it is very probable that native 
capacity determines the relative attainment of men within 
any large and homogeneous unit of mankind. And it is very 
probable that the presence of poor home environment among 
any considerable group of our population is due to a compara- 
tive absence of ability in that group as a whole. This ab- 
sence is inherited by the offspring of that group. Errors due 
to a neglect of this consideration need to be especially guarded 
against in psychological investigations which aim to study 
environmental influence. 

Strong divided the negroes tested by her into classes 
on the basis of degree of skin pigmentation. She says: "The 
children were divided into three groups according to color. 
This classification was not a scientific one, and the statement 
of results may be entirely worthless. There were 34 dark 
children, 35 medium in color, and 43 light colored in this 
classification, 122 in all. Of the dark colored, 14.4 per cent, 
tested below age, 76.7 per cent, tested at age, and 8.8 above 
age. Of the next group, somewhat lighter in color, 31.1 per 
cent, tested below age, 62.2 at age, and 6.6 per cent, above age. 
Of the lightest group 44.2 tested below age, 44.2 at age, and 
11.6 above age. The darkest children are more nearly normal, 
the lightest show the greatest variation, both above and below 
normal." ('13, p. 506). 

Morse comments upon the tests as follows: "In general it 
may be said that the colored children excel in rote memory, 
e.g., in counting, repeating digits (but not one was able to re- 
peat 26 syllables), naming words, making rhymes and in time 
orientation. They are inferior to the whites, however, in 
aesthetic judgment, observation, reasoning, motor control, 
logical memory, use of words, resistance to suggestion and in 
orientation or adjustment to the institutions and complexities 
of civilized society." ('14, p. 78). With reference to peda- 
gogical retardation, he writes : " according to the Binet 

scale, a larger number of white children are in a school grade 



REVIEW OF WORK PREVIOUSLY DONE. 19 

below their mental ability than above, whereas the reverse is 
true of the colored children." ('14, p. 78). 

In reviewing this study, Bruner says: "The tables show 
another interesting point on which the author makes no com- 
ment. At the ages of six, seven and eight just about twice 
as many negro children as white rate below age, whereas for 
the ages of ten, eleven and twelve the superiority of the whites 
over the negroes is but slight. This suggests that the rate 
of maturing may be more rapid with the negro children, so 
as to make them older, mentally, at the age of twelve than 
white children of the same age." ('14, p. 385). 

A study of the learning capacity of whites and negroes 
was made by Baldwin ('13). A somewhat elaborate substi- 
tution test was used five minutes a day for sixteen days with 
37 white and 30 colored delinquent adolescent girls. Their 
ages ranged from 13 to 21 years. "Fourteen other negro 
girls were too feeble mentally to perform the tests after the 
initial instructions although they worked assiduously for the 
period of three weeks, and three white girls failed to do 50 
per cent, of the work correctly." ('13, p. 317). From the 
summary of the results: "In this type of learning it is found 
that: 1. Comparing the amount of work done by the thirty- 
seven white girls with the work done by the thirty negroes 
who accomplished more than 50 per cent, of correct results, 
it is evident that the negroes are decidedly inferior. The 
white girls made 72.3 substitutions as a general average, the 
negroes 55.8. The negroes accomplished 62.4 per cent, as 
much work as the white girls and made 245.3 per cent, as 
many errors. Practically all the superior negroes in the school 
were included in the test. 

"2. The learning capacity of delinquent negro girls differs 
quantitatively and qualitatively from that of the white girls, 
and the educational corollary follows that different methods 
of instruction and training are required for the negro girls 
than for the white girls." ('13, pp. 331-332) . 

On the whole the inferiority of the negroes was about the 
same in both absolute amount of work done and in learning 
capacity. The negroes as compared with the whites were 
slow to warm up, quick to lose interest, difficult to stimulate 
except through flattery, irregular, moody, vacillating in atten- 
tion, inaccurate, envious of each other's progress, given to 



20 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

mumbling, grumbling, humming, saying funny things while 
at work. 

A study of this kind is difficult to evaluate in its bearing 
upon normal subjects. The girls were all committed to an 
institution as delinquents, and their mental ability was proba- 
bly considerably below the average. Whether both races 
were equally below the average is not known. The fact that 
fourteen negro girls could not work the test at all, while only 
three white girls failed to complete as much as 50 per cent, 
of the work, would indicate that the negroes were farther 
below the average racial ability than were the whites; but 
this is not conclusive. That the test failed to enlist the in- 
terest of the colored girls indicates that their true learning 
ability was not measured. But this, too, is of doubtful sig- 
nificance, since the very fact that the negroes were not inter- 
ested as were the whites possibly points to a deficiency in the 
colored group. On the whole, it seems safe to say that the 
test is probably indicative of a true racial difference, though 
the amount of such difference is left uncertain. 

Since the tests to be described in the following chapters 
were made, there has appeared a preliminary report by Pyle 
('15) of an extensive investigation of the relative mental 
capacity of whites and negroes. This investigator tested 408 
colored pupils, from eight to sixteen years of age, inclusive, 
in the public schools of Columbia, Mexico and Moberly, three 
towns in Missouri, using a number of standard tests, and com- 
pared the results thus obtained with the norms which he had 
previously ascertained for white children in the same tests. 
As the report which has so far appeared is only preliminary, 
it is impossible to go into detail concerning the work done, but 
the author's words may be quoted to indicate the main out- 
lines of this valuable research: 

"The following are the conclusions to which the work so 
far points In general the marks indicating the men- 
tal ability of the negro are about two-thirds those of the 
whites. The negro girls approach the white girls in ability 
a little more closely than the negro boys approach white 
boys. Negro boys and girls are farther apart in ability than 
are white boys and girls. In both races the girls are superior, 
if the average performance is taken as the basis of compari- 
son. With increasing age, there is a tendency for the differ- 
ence between whites and negroes to become less. This ten- 



REVIEW OF WORK PREVIOUSLY DONE. 21 

dency is more marked with boys than with girls. About one- 
fifth of the negroes are equal or superior to the average 
of the whites, while three-fourths of the whites are equal or 
superior to the average of the negroes. In the same school 
grade, the negroes are several months older than the whites. 
Negro girls have the best permanent memory for ideas in the 
eleventh year. The same is true of white girls. Negro boys 
have the best permanent memory for ideas in the twelfth 
year and white boys in the thirteenth year. In rote memory 
the negroes have a much better memory for concrete than 
for abstract words, but are greatly inferior to whites in both. 

"If, for purpose of comparison, the negroes are sep- 
arated into two groups according to social position, it is 
found that the negro boys of better social class have about 
four-fifths of the ability of white boys. The negro girls of 
better social position have an ability which is about three- 
fourths that of white girls. Difference in social position has 
less effect on negro girls than on negro boys. The difference 
in social position has most effect on tests requiring quickness 
in learning, quickness in controlled association, in immediate 
and permanent logical memory and in constructive imagina- 
tion as measured by the Ebbinghaus test. With negro chil- 
dren of the better social class the tendency to approach the 
florm of white children is more marked. In the substitution, 
controlled association and Ebbinghaus tests, the negroes are 
less than half as good as whites. In free association and 
the ink-blot tests they are nearly as good. In quickness of 
perception and discrimination and in reaction, the negroes 
equal or excel the whites. 

"At all ages, the physical development both in muscular 
strength and muscular speed is nearly the same for negro 
boys and white boys. The same is true for negro girls and 
white girls until the age of ten. After ten, negro girls are 
stronger than white girls, but white girls are faster. The 
negro girls are stronger probably because they do more mus- 
cular work than white girls do. Muscular speed seems to be 
little affected by conditions of life while muscular strength 
is much affected by them. 

"Perhaps the most important question that arises in con- 
nection with the results of these mental tests is this : How far 
is ability to pass them dependent upon environmental condi- 
tions? Our tests show certain specific differences between 



22 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

negroes and whites. What these differences would have been 
had the negroes been subject to the same environmental in- 
fluences as had the whites, it is difficult to say. The results 
obtained by separating the negroes into two social groups 
would lead one to think that the conditions of life under which 
the negroes live might account for the lower mentality of the 
negroes. On the other hand, it may be that the negroes 
living under the better social conditions are of better stock. 
They may have more white blood in them." ('15, pp. 357- 
360). 

Neurological Studies 

It is assumed everywhere as a matter of course that men- 
tal differences imply neural differences. If there are mental 
differences between two races, then we may expect to find 
differences in the nature of the brain structure of the two 
races, and vice versa. The comment is frequently made that 
apparent differences in the size or shape of the brains of 
given racial groups must indicate corresponding psychical 
divergencies. Such comment has been quoted in some of the 
foregoing abstracts, notably in those from Boas, Le Bon and 
Tylor. If there is a racial, or individual, inheritance of mind 
there must be an inheritance of appropriate anatomy and 
physiology. 

A few recent investigators have attacked this problem of 
racial neural differences. In Baltimore, Bean studied the 
brains of 103 negroes and 49 Caucasians. He concludes that, 
"Not only is the anterior association center smaller in the 
Negro than in the Caucasian, but the whole frontal lobe of 
the Negro is smaller." ('06, p. 374). The negro stands in 
an intermediate position between man and ourang in the rela- 
tive size of his frontal to his parietal and occipital lobes. 

Bean then goes on to point out that this conclusion is in 
accord with well-known traits of the negro. He states, citing 
Flechsig as authority, that the anterior association center, 
which is comparatively small in the negro, is intimately con- 
nected with ideas regarding personality ; the relations of self, 
subjectively and objectively; the capacity for ethical and 
aesthetic judgment; self-control, especially in such matters as 
sexual excitement, anger or vexation; will power. The pos- 
terior association center, on the other hand, which is com- 
paratively large in the negro, is more intimately connected 



REVIEW OF WORK PREVIOUSLY DONE. 23 

with the special senses; it is objective and concrete, while the 
anterior center is subjective and abstract in the mental 
processes which its operation accompanies. "The relative 
differences found in the association centers of the two races is 
suggestive in relation to the known characteristics of the 
two, in view of Flechsig's work. The Caucasian i« subjective, 
the Negro objective. The Caucasian .... is dominant and 
domineering, and possessed primarily with determination, will- 
power, self-control, self-government, and all the attributes of 
the subjective self, with a high development of the ethical and 
aesthetic faculties. The Negro is in direct contrast by reason 
of a certain lack of these powers, and a great development 
of the objective qualities. The negro is primarily affectionate, 
immensely emotional, then sensual and under stimulation 
passionate. There is love of ostentation, of outward show, of 
approbation ; there is love of music, and capacity for melodious 
articulation; there is undeveloped artistic power and taste 
— Negroes make good artisans, handicraftsmen — and 
there is instability of character incident to lack of self-control, 
especially in connection with the sexual relations ; and there is 
lack of orientation, or recognition of position and condition of 
self and environment, evidenced by a peculiar bumptiousness, 
so-called, that is particularly noticeable. One would naturally 
expect some such character for the Negro, because the whole 
posterior part of the brain is large, and the whole anterior 
portion small, this being especially true in regard to the 
anterior and posterior association centers." ('06, pp. 378- 
379). 

Further, Bean reports that he found the ratio of the corpus 
callosum to the total brain weight to be greater in the Cau- 
casian than in the negro, the anterior end of the corpus cal- 
losum in the whites being relatively large when compared 
with its posterior end. 

In weight, the 51 negro brains, male, averaged 1292 grams, 
while the 37 white male brains averaged 1341 grams; the 28 
female negro brains averaged 1108 grams, while the 9 white 
female brains averaged 1103 grams. The negroes were of a 
higher class than the whites, however, and mulattoes were 
included among them. 

These conclusions of Bean's are very interesting, but they 
seem to need further confirmation before they can be ac- 
cepted as final. Following Bean, Mall ('09) found no such 



24 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

definite racial differences. He states that the brain weight 
of eminent men is 100 grams above that of men in general, 
and that the average white man has a brain 100 grams heavier 
than that of the average negro. But the frontal lobe as com- 
pared with the rest of the brain has the same relative weight 
in both negroes and whites, male and female. And the con- 
figuration of negro and white brains is the same. " with 

the present crude methods the statement that the negro brain 
approaches the foetal or simian brain more than does the 
white is entirely unwarranted." ('09, p. 20). "It certainly 
would be important if it could be shown that the complexity 
of the gyri and sulci of the brain varied with the intelligence 
of the individual, that of the genius being most complex, but 
the facts do not bear this out, and such statements are only 

misleading brains rich in gyri and sulci, of the Gauss 

type, are by no means rare in the American negro." ('09, 
p. 24). 

This investigator reviews the previous work done in this 
field, and comes to the final conclusion that there is no valid 
evidence to show significant brain differences from the point 
of view of race, sex or genius. 

Karl Pearson ('07), after a study of the heads of 1000 
Cambridge graduates and 5000 school children, states that his 
results corroborate the conclusions of previous articles, and 
sets forth his findings as follows: "The average correlation 
between head length or head breadth and intelligence is .11. 
.... no sensible modification is made in this result if allow- 
ance be made for either weight or stature." But "some 44 
per cent, of very able men have heads smaller than the aver- 
age slow man and some 44 per cent, of slow men heads larger 
than the average specially able man. This order of numerical 
relationship holds for the whole range of the characters dealt 
with, and in view of it we see how idle it is to assert that head 
measurements can be of any service in the prediction of in- 
telligence Differences in size of head will not account 

for at most 1/12, and probably not as much as 1/20, of the 
observed differences of capacity whether between adults or be- 
tween children." ('07, p. 121). 

Hrdlicka ('98) investigated the physical differences be- 
tween 1100 white and 300 negro children, and found that 
the negro's forehead is narrower but not lower than that of 
whites, and that the negro's head is unusually long and nar- 



REVIEW OF WORK PREVIOUSLY DONE. 25 

row, while the heads of whites are of all shapes. He says 
the negroes' ears are smaller, their arms, hands and feet 
longer, and their chest somewhat deeper than is the case 
among white children. The weight of white children at all 
ages is somewhat greater than that of negroes, but the negroes 
at all ages and of both sexes are three or four pounds stronger 
with each hand. 

Hrdlicka also finds, as did Le Bon in the abstract previ- 
ously given, that the variation among the whites is greater 
than among the negroes. "The white children show more 
diversity, the negro children more uniformity in their normal 
physical characters. This fact becomes gradually more 
marked as we advance with the age of the children." ('98, 
p. 476). 

it is impossible to make an adequate summary of the 
views set forth in this chapter ; the abstracts given are them- 
selves summaries. But it is clear that by far the greater num- 
ber of writers who have dealt with the problem of the rela- 
tive mental ability of the white and the negro take the view 
that the negro is inferior. This is particularly true of those 
investigators who have used quantitative methods. The 
negro has not shown the same capacity as the white when 
put to the test of psychological or educational experiment, and 
the racial differences revealed have been considerable. In the 
higher mental processes that go to make up the capacities 
necessary to a successful conduct of civilized life, the negro 
seems to fall short to a far greater degree than in the ele- 
mentary traits which man has in common with the lower ani- 
mals. In sense capacity, in instinct, in motor ability, there is 
no evidence that he inferior to the white man. It is in such 
matters as reasoning ability, the power to perceive relations, 
to exercise creative imagination, to subordinate a present pas- 
sion to a distant end, that the weight of evidence and opinion 
indicates his relative deficiency. 

With regard to the comparative equality of white and 
negro children up to the age of adolescence and the then en- 
suing superiority of the whites, the evidence is not at all clear. 
The theories as to the significance of adolescence upon which 
this view is based, have themselves undergone restricting 
modification in very recent years, and the whole matter is at 
present unsettled. There may be greater differences between 



26 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

white and negro children either before or after adolescence, so 
far as is known. Or adolescence may have no appreciable 
bearing upon ascertainable racial differences. 

The question of differences in brain structure between the 
two races is likewise subject to controversy. It seems to be 
indubitable that in brain size there is a difference, but the in- 
ternal structure of the brain, which is far more significant for 
intelligence than size, is as yet a subject for debate rather 
than for evidence in so far as it concerns differences between 
whites and negroes. 

The abstracts given are believed to include all of the 
experimental studies and a fair sampling of the better studies 
which are not experimental. It is probably true that there are 
more people who believe in racial mental equality than the 
reviews would indicate; equality is taken for granted, as in 
the greater part of our school system and in our political life ; 
it is those who believe in racial inequality who consider their 
views novel enough for publication. It may be said that 
the main conclusion one may draw from a study of the litera- 
ture bearing upon the mental side of our race question is that 
we have taken a step toward its solution, but that the problem 
is still a problem. 

The evidence with regard to the relative ability of pure 
negroes and mulattoes will be discussed in Chapter IV, as will 
that bearing upon racial variability. 



CHAPTER II 

THE SUBJECTS AND THE TESTS 

The Subjects 

The experiments to be described herein were made in De- 
cember, 1914, upon pupils in the schools of Richmond, Fred- 
ericksburg and Newport News, Virginia. According to the 
Census for 1910 ('10), Richmond has a population of 127,628, 
of whom 36 per cent, are negroes; Fredericksburg has a 
population of 5874, of whom 25 per cent, are negroes; and 
Newport News has a population of 20,205, of whom 36 per 
cent, are negroes. In the State as a whole, 32.6 per cent, of 
the population are negroes. The white inhabitants of these 
cities are to a very large extent native born and of native 
parentage ; in the state as a whole 95.4 per cent, of the white 
population is native born and of native parentage, and in 
these cities the percentage does not considerably differ from 
that of the state. 

The Census shows that in Richmond 1.2 per cent, of the 
native white population ten years of age and over are illiterate, 
while 19.6 per cent, of the negroes are illiterate. In Fred- 
ericksburg the corresponding percentage of white illiteracy 
is 1.5; that of negroes is 20. In Newport News the per- 
centages are : whites, .6 ; negroes, 12. In the state as a whole, 
8 per cent, of the white population and 30 per cent, of the col- 
ored population are illiterate. It is thus evident that the 
cities have a smaller percentage of illiteracy, both white and 
colored, than the state, and that a much greater proportion of 
the negroes than of the whites is illiterate. 

The percentages of the population 6-14 years of age that 
attend school are as follows, according to the Census: Rich- 
mond — native whites, 79.2 per cent.; negroes, 65.2 per cent. 
Fredericksburg — whites, 76 per cent.; negroes, 64 per cent. 
Newport News — whites, 76; negroes, 69 per cent. In the 

27 



28 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

state as a whole 73.2 per cent, of the white and 58.7 per cent, 
of the colored population 6-14 years of age attend school. It 
thus appears that a somewhat larger percentage of whites 
than of negroes attend school, and that this difference between 
white and colored school attendance is only slightly less in the 
cities than in the state at large. It should be noted that there 
is no compulsory education law in any of the cities mentioned, 
and that only an inconsiderable fraction of the population of 
the state attend school under such a law. 

So far as these figures show, the white and colored popu- 
lations of the cities in which the tests were made do not differ 
significantly from the general white and colored populations 
of Virginia. The negroes, in the cities and in the state at 
large, attend school less than do the whites in proportion to 
their numbers and are considerably more illiterate. 

This last consideration, that the whites attend school in 
larger proportion than the negroes, and that the negroes are 
more illiterate, indicates that on the whole the negroes who 
do attend school are a more closely selected group than are 
the whites who attend school. It is a rarer occurrence for 
a negro to become educated. The school selects for its opera- 
tions a more circumscribed group of negro than of white chil- 
dren. The Richmond School Report for 1912-'13 ('14) 
strengthens this conclusion. 

The figures in the report show that of the total white school 
enrollment, 10.53 per cent, are in the high school ; of the total 
colored school enrollment, 4.97 per cent, are in the high school. 
That is, that out of an equal number of pupils from each race, 
there are twice as many white as colored of high school grade. 
If we compare the percentage of the total school population, 
white and colored, enrolled in elementary and in high schools, 
we arrive at the same result. Of the white and colored school 
populations, there are 54 and 55 per cent., respectively, en- 
roiled in the elementary schools; but there are 7.5 per cent, 
of the white and only 3.1 per cent, of the colored school popula- 
tion enrolled in the high schools. The same percentage of the 
white and of the colored school populations is enrolled in ele- 
mentary schools, but there is twice as great a percentage of 
the white as of the colored enrolled in high schools. Of the 
colored population as a whole, a smaller proportion is in school 
as compared with the whites ; and of those in school, a smaller 



THE SUBJECTS AND THE TESTS. 29 

proportion is in high school. It is a rarer thing for a colored 
than for a white child to attend school at all; it is a much 
rarer thing for a colored school child to be in high school. 
Colored high school pupils are the "chosen few" of their race 
to a greater extent than are white high school pupils. 

The nature of the selective factors which thus act more 
intensively upon negroes than upon whites as the school grades 
advance is difficult to ascertain. Among the causes of elimina- 
tion from school are such matters as poor health, poverty, 
mental or moral deficiency, lack of ambition or energy. It 
would seem that these forces, in the long run, must select for 
survival in the school system those who by reason of their 
own capacity, as represented in themselves and in the inherit- 
able traits which prompt and enable their parents to send them 
to school, are best fitted to make progress in academic work. 
It would seem that the school must select as well as train 
those who have greatest ability and who thus profit most by 
school attendance. That this is true in the case of the high 
school's selection of negro pupils is especially indicated by the 
following considerations. 

The figures for retardation in the schools of Richmond 
are as follows: In the white elementary schools, 51.8 per 
cent, of the pupils are above the normal age for their grade; 
in the colored elementary schools, 75.0 per cent, of the pupils 
are above the normal age for their grade. While in the white 
high school 52.1 per cent, of the pupils are above the normal 
age for their grade, and in the colored high school, 55.8 per 
cent, of the pupils are above normal age. The colored elemen- 
tary pupils are 23.2 per cent, more retarded than are the white 
elementary pupils; the colored high school pupils are only 
3.7 per cent, more retarded than are the white pupils of their 
grade. It is evident that the pupils who do not accomplish 
what is expected of their age drop out of the negro schools 
before high school is reached to a greater extent than out 
of the white schools. Indeed, while it appears from the figures 
that the colored pupils who are eliminated from the school sys- 
tem are those who do not perform the work of their age, it does 
not appear that this is true of the whites. It would almost 
seem that whereas the negro goes to high school by reason 
of his ability and determination, the white goes on account 
of some other incentive, such as, perhaps, social pressure 
or the custom of his class. It is not unreasonable to con- 



30 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

elude on the basis of the figures for retardation that one of 
the selective factors which operate to a greater extent upon 
colored than upon white pupils is inabihty to do the school work 
expected of their age. In this connection it should be re- 
called that Phillips, in a study reviewed in Chapter I, found 
the relative percentages of white and colored retardation in 
the elementary schools of Philadelphia to be about the same 
as those found here ; and that his investigations with the Binet 
tests showed that the greater pedagogical retardation of the 
colored pupils was paralleled by their greater psychological 
retardation. 

When we divide the elementary school into primary and 
grammar grades, we find that 35 per cent, of the white ele- 
mentary pupils are in the grammar grades, while only 21 per 
cent, of the colored elementary pupils are in these grades. 
This is in confirmation of our conclusion that the higher grades 
have a larger percentage of the white than of the colored 
children. But when we divide the high school into two parts, 
consisting of the first and second and the third and fourth 
years, respectively, we find a different situation. Twenty- 
five per cent, of the white high school pupils are in the third 
and fourth years combined, while 28 per cent, of the colored 
high school pupils are in the third and fourth years com- 
bined. Here we have a larger proportion of colored than of 
white pupils in the upper years. It is interesting to note 
that Mayo, in a quotation previously given, found the same 
situation in the high schools of New York. The colored pupils 
studied by him remained in school longer than did the white 
pupils. It seems that after the high school is reached, selec- 
tive factors eliminate a larger percentage of white pupils than 
of colored. 

This tends to corroborate the view expressed above, that 
the negro who enters high school does so because of his ability 
and determination, whereas the white high school pupil often 
enters by reason of social pressure, custom, or the tradition of 
his race. There is a marked difference between the work of 
the high school and that of the elementary school. One of 
the problems of modern education is to lessen the gap between 
the two. Within either school the work of a given grade is 
not much more difficult than the work of the grade below it. 
But the first year of the high school is much more difficult than 
the last year of the elementary school. This increased diffi- 



THE SUBJECTS AND THE TESTS. 31 

culty causes a large number of the less capable pupils to drop 
out of high school at the end of the first or second year. A 
larger proportion of white than of colored pupils so drop out 
because a greater proportion of white than of colored entered 
without serious purpose or the requisite ability. The negroes 
who enter high school are a more closely selected group, and 
they therefore more nearly finish the course. The figures 
show that the percentage of retardation in the colored high 
school is the same for the first two years and for the last two 
years ; in the white high school there is a considerably greater 
percentage of retardation in the first two years than in the 
last two. 

Another fact which bears upon the relative action of selec- 
tive factors upon white and colored children in the public 
schools is that a much larger proportion of white than of 
colored pupils of high school grade are not enrolled in the pub- 
lic schools at all, but attend private institutions. This is par- 
ticularly true in Richmond; and on the whole the pupils who 
attend private schools are of better social standing, and 
therefore, on the whole, probably of greater ability, than the 
average of the school population. The public high school thus 
loses a number of pupils of ability, and this loss is not felt by 
the colored high school as it is by the white. 

Taken all together, the facts brought out show that the 
colored child in the schools of Richmond, in the upper grades 
and especially in the high school, is much more closely selected 
by reason of his ability than is the white child. We should 
therefore expect the colored pupils of advanced grade to attain 
a higher score in psychological tests than those of lower grade, 
when compared with white pupils. This we shall find to be 
true. And we shall also find, in marked confirmation of the 
present contention, that colored high school pupils excel col- 
ored elementary pupils to a much greater extent than white 
high school pupils excel those of lower grades. Phillips, Strong 
and Pyle, (see Chapter I), found the mental difference be- 
tween whites and negroes to become less as the grades ad- 
vance. The explanation of their findings is probably to be 
found in this matter of selection. It seems likely that if one 
could test a random and not an educational selection of whites 
and negroes, he would not find the difference between the 
races to decrease with age. And it appears to be certain that 
racial mental differences discovered by means of tests upon 



32 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

school children are in reality smaller than the actual differ- 
ences between the races. 

The detailed figures for the school systems of Fredericks- 
burg and Newport News are not available, but there is no 
reason for believing they would point to a different conclu- 
sion from that found in Richmond. The Richmond figures 
are much more reliable than those of the other two cities 
would be since they are based upon a far greater number of 
pupils. It may be said that the Richmond figures are derived 
from the records of 12,018 white and 6184 colored children. 

The number of pupils tested in these experiments was as 
follows: In Richmond, 269 white and 319 colored; in Fred- 
ericksburg, 84 white and 63 colored; in Newport News, 133 
white and 39 colored. In all, there were 486 white and 421 
colored pupils — a total of 907. The Richmond pupils were 
in the three years* of the grammar school and the four years 
of the high school; in the grammar grades there were 149 
white and 175 colored ; in the high school there were 120 white 
and 144 colored. The Fredericksburg pupils were: white, 36 
in the 6A and 7A grades and 48 in the high school; colored, 
28 in the 6A and 7A grades and 35 in the high school. In 
Newport News all of the pupils tested were in the grammar 
grades: 133 white, in grades 6B, 7A and 7B; and 39 colored 
in grades 6A and 7A. Throughout the study main reliance 
will be placed upon the results obtained from Richmond, on 
account of the greater number of pupils tested there ; the re- 
sults from Fredericksburg and Nevv^port News will be used as 
corroborative. It may be remarked that in all ways the only 
difference between the results from the three cities is 
that those obtained from Fredericksburg and Newport News 
emphasize the racial differences found to a somewhat greater 
degree than do those from Richmond. 

The high schools tested in Richmond were the John Mar- 
shall, white, and the Armstrong, colored. These are the only 
high schools in Richmond. In the John Marshall High School 

*The elementary school in Virginia covers only seven years. The first 
four years are the primary, the last three are the grammar. The gram- 
mar grades are 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B, 7A, 7B. In the high school there are 
four years, and the grades are lA, IB, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B. "A" 
means the first half of a year; "B" means the second half of a year. 



THE SUBJECTS AND THE TESTS, 33 

there are* 1394 pupils, 535 boys and 859 girls; in the Arm- 
strong High School there are 76 boys and 257 girls, a total of 
333. The elementary schools tested were the Madison, white, 
and the George Mason, colored. These were chosen because 
in the opinion of the school authorities their pupils were fairly 
typical of the average white and colored populations of the 
city. The Madison School has 871 pupils, 398 boys and 473 
girls; the George Mason School has 849 pupils, 360 boys and 
489 girls. All four schools are parts of the public school 
system. 

In Fredericksburg, the white pupils tested were in attend- 
ance upon the one public school building for whites in the 
city. The colored elementary pupils were in the colored public 
school. But the colored high school pupils were in a private 
school conducted by colored people, since the city does not 
maintain a colored high school. This private school conforms, 
closely in all essential respects to the requirements for pubUc 
high schools, and its pupils may be fairly compared with those 
in the public schools. 

In Newport News, the white pupils were in the John W. 
Daniel School and the colored pupils were in the John Mar- 
shall School. These schools were typical of the schools for 
the two races, in the opinion of the school authorities. No 
high school pupils were tested in Newport News, since there 
is no colored high school. 

In selecting the pupils from the various schools for the 
tests, in some instances the only grade of a given degree of 
advancement in the school was tested; in other instances, 
where choice had to be made among several grades of a given 
degree of advancement, the school authorities selected a grade 
of average ability ; in still other instances, where it was neces- 
sary to test only part of a given grade, the selection of pupils 
was made by taking them in alphabetical order from the roll. 
By these means it is believed that the selection of pupils for 
the tests was made a fair one in all of the schools. 

That the schools themselves were comparable as between 
the two races there is no valid reason to doubt. All of them 
pursued the same general course of study ; within a given city 
all were parts of the same system, with the exception of the 
colored high school in Fredericksburg. The teachers and 

*These are the figures for 1912-'13. The present figures are not 
available, but they do not differ significantly from those given. 



34 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 



principals of the colored schools were colored in Fredericks- 
burg and Newport News. In Richmond, the colored elemen- 
tary school had colored teachers and a white supervising 
principal ; the colored high school had white teachers through- 
out. No difference could be perceived in the attitude of the 
two races toward the tests: both white and colored seemed 
to enjoy the work rather than the reverse, and both worked 
with vigor. 

The number of pupils tested is set forth in detail in Tables 
1 and 2. In the treatment of results, no account is taken 
of a record from only one pupil, and the two lowest and the 
two highest ages are disregarded on account of the small 
number of pupils in them. 

TABLE I. 

Number of Subjects Tested — Classified by Age and Sex 

Richmond. 

Ages 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Totals 

White Boys. 1 1 12 15 20 31 17 11 18 5 131 

White Girls 11 18 21 27 18 16 20 5 2 .... 138 

Col. Boys 1 6 14 19 18 16 14 9 6 4 .... 107 

Col. Girls 3 9 22 34 42 27 33 23 15 3 .. 1 212 

Fredericksburg. 

White Boys 3 2 7 11 7 6 6 3 45 

White Girls 1 6 6 7 6 6 5 2 39 

Col. Boys 1 3 2 1 3 5 1 2 4.... 22 

Col. Girls 1 .. 9 10 3 2 10 2 2 1 1 63 

Newport News. 

White Boys 3 15 20 12 5 55 

White Girls 5 18 25 23 4 2 77 

Col. Boys 1 2.. 4 1 8 

Col. Girls 7 6 12 3 3 31 



Grades 
White . 
Colored 



TABLE II. 
Number of Subjects Tested — Classified by Grades 

Richmond. 

5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 2B 3A 4A Totals 

38 35 19 21 18 18 30 29 .. 35 26 269 

....42 38 35 22 19 19 42 31 21 25 25 319 



White . 
Colored 



White . 
Colored 



20 
21 



Fredericksburg. 



16 

7 



14 12 
10 9 



Newport News. 



.. 59 40 34 
23 .. 16 .. 



11 11 

8 8 



84 
63 



133 

39 



THE SUBJECTS AND THE TESTS. 35 

A fact should be noted in comparing the results from the 
white and the colored high schools of Richmond. The white 
pupils in each of the four years tested were in the first, or 
"A", half of the year's work. The colored pupils, however, 
on account of the way they are classified in the school, were 
in both the first and the second, the "A" and the "B", halves 
of each of the four years work. To state it in another way, 
the white high school pupils were in grades lA, 2A, 3A and 
4A; while the colored high school pupils with whom they are 
compared were in grades lA and IB, 2A and 2B, 3A and 3B, 
and 4 A and 4B. Thus the colored pupils were farther ad- 
vanced academically than were the white pupils in each of 
the four years. For the sake of simplicity the high school 
grades for both white and colored are put down as "A" grades 
in the tables. But this is somewhat unfair to the white 
pupils, since the colored were in both "A" and "B" grades 
in about equal numbers. 

The ages of the grades tested are shown in Table 3, and 
the difference in ages between the two races is shown in 
Table 4. The colored pupils are older, grade for grade. In 
Richmond, the difference is .36 of a year, in Fredericksburg 
it is 1.02 years, and in Newport News it is 1.7 years. The 
difference as shown for Richmond should be reduced somewhat 
on account of the fact that the colored high school pupils are 
in reality more advanced in grade than the tables would indi- 
cate, as was pointed out in the preceding paragraph. Stetson, 

TABLE III. 

Ages of the Grades Tested 

Richmond. 

Grades 5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 2B 3A 4A 



White Av 

A.D 

Col. Av 

A.D 


. ... 12.4 
, ... 1.1 
. ... 12.3 
, . . . 1.0 


12.5 13.4 13.2 13.3 

1.1 1.4 .9 1.0 

12.8 12.7 13.5 14.0 

.9 .8 1.0 .9 

Fredericksburg. 


13.6 
.9 

14.5 
.8 


14.4 

.9 

14.9 

.7 


15.4 

1.1 

16.2 

.8 


16.5 
1.0 


16.5 17.0 
.8 .5 

16.8 17.6 
.7 1.1 


White Av 

A.D 

Col. Av 

A.D 




.. 12.5 .. 13.6 

.9 . . .9 

'.'. 13'.2 '.'. 14*.0 

..1.0 .. .9 




14.4 

.8 

15.4 

1.6 


15.6 
1.0 

17.2 
1.0 


•• 


16.2 16.9 
.7 .5 

17.3 18.2 
.9 1.2 


White Av 

A.D 

Col. Av 

A.D 





Newport News. 
.. .. 12.8 12.6 
.. ..1.0 .8 
.. 13.0 .. 14.3 
..1.0 .. .8 


13.6 
.6 


•• 


•• 


•• 


.. .. 



36 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

TABLE IV. 

Ages — Difference in Years Between the White and the Colored 

Subjects Tested 

(Minus signs indicate that the colored subjects are of greater age.) 

Richmond. 

Grs.5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 3A 4A Av. P.E. 
.1 _,3 .7 —.3 —.7 —.9 _ .5 — .8 — .3 — .6 — .36 .09 

Fredericksburg. 

, . —.7 . . —.4 . . —1.0 —1.6 —1.1 —1.3 —1.02 .11 

Newport News. 
.... .. —1.7 —1.7 



Mayo, Phillips and Pyle, (see Chapter I), also found that the 
colored children tested by them were appreciably older than 
white children of the same school grade, and this is indicated 
by school censuses in general, (see Mayo, '13). 

This age difference is significant as showing that colored 
pupils are less advanced than white pupils in school work. 
But it is not important in a comparison of the standing of 
the two races in mental tests, if the comparison is made by 
both age and grade. When the scores are compared by ages, 
the white pupils in the comparison will be of higher school 
grade; when they are compared by grades, the colored pupils 
will be of greater age. In the former case any possible ad- 
vantage will be on the side of the whites; in the latter case 
it will be on the side of the colored pupils. If success in the 
tests is not dependent upon school training, it is obvious 
that an age comparison is the better. But if success in the 
tests does depend upon school training, a comparison by grades 
is to be preferred. Where the influence of school training 
upon standing in the tests is unknown, a comparison by both 
age and grade would seem to be advisable. In this mono- 
graph the results in all of the tests are set forth by both ages 
and grades, but evidence will be brought forth to show that 
ability to perform the tests is not appreciably dependent upon 
school training, and consequently the age comparisons are the 
more reliable. A comparison by ages, indeed, is to be pre- 
ferred to one by grades in all serious investigations of racial 
mental differences. For a grade is essentially a group of 
people selected because they are much alike in capacity. And 
a mental test which is dependent upon academic training 



THE SUBJECTS AND THE TESTS. 37 

must be comparatively worthless as an index of true racial 
ability. 

The Tests 

The tests employed in this investigation were selected pri- 
marily with a view to ascertaining racial differences in the 
higher rather than in the lower intellectual capacities. It 
is in the higher capacities that men are supposed to differ 
most. And it is these capacities that are of greatest influence 
in determining their relative achievement. The investiga- 
tions previously made and the views previously held indicate 
that there are no considerable group differences in sensation, 
in motor control, in native retentiveness. The differences to 
which evidence has pointed have been, on the side of intellect 
as opposed to feeling, in such abilities as those included under 
the terms constructive imagination, the apprehension of mean- 
ing, reasoning power. These latter traits divide mankind 
into the able and the mediocre, the brilliant and the dull, and 
they determine the progress of civilization more directly than 
do the simple and fundamental powers which man has in com- 
mon with the lower animals. While testing these traits, it was 
thought advisable at the same time to employ certain tests 
of lower capacity for the sake of comparison. 

The tests used were the Woodworth and Wells Mixed 
Relations, I and II; a form of the Ebbinghaus Completion 
Test; a Cancellation Test; and one of the Columbia Maze 
Tests. A test of immediate memory was also given, but the 
results from it were discarded. In this test the series of 
digits to be remembered were presented orally by the ex- 
perimenter, and some of the pupils, both white and colored, 
undoubtedly wrote down the numbers surreptitiously as they 
were called, instead of waiting until after the series were 
finished. It is interesting to note that evidence of this occurs 
more frequently in the results from the lower than from the 
higher grades, and more frequently in the colored than in the 
white schools. A possible "study of dishonesty" is suggested. 

The mixed relations test, in its various forms, has been 
used by a number of investigators, and has been highly recom- 
mended as a test of intelligence. Wyatt ('14), in a study 
undertaken in order to determine reliable intelligence tests, 
found correlations of .80 and .62 between the mixed relations 
test and careful subjective estimates of intelligence, in two 



38 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

groups of subjects. He also found a correlation of .85 be- 
tween the mixed relations and completion tests, and states 
that these two tests correlate more highly with inteUigence 
than do any of the thirteen other tests employed by him, 
and that they also correlate more highly with the other tests 
as a whole. Vickers and Wyatt ('13) attempted to deter- 
mine suitable tests for assigning children to school grades, 
and found the mixed relations, completion and hard opposites 
to be most satisfactory. The correlations between the mixed 
relations test and intelligence, (inteUigence being defined as 
adaptability to new conditions), were .51, .61, .64 and .86 
with four different classes of children. The reliability of the 
test, as m.easured by its correlation in repeated trials, was 
high, the average correlation between the trials being .70. 
Burt ('11) found a correlation of .52 with intelligence, and a 
coefficient of rehability of .92. He recommends the test, 
along with the completion test, as being an excellent indica- 
tion of ability in logical inference or reasoning. 

The particular form of the test as used is the one de- 
signed and standardized by Woodworth and Wells ('11), its 
originators. It consists of two parts, numbered I and H, and 
is in reality two separate tests. The parts are of equal dif- 
ficulty and the twenty relations in each part differ as little 
in difficulty as it was possible to make them. The test is 
printed in full in the appendix, as are the others used in this 
investigation. 

It is always difficult to state just what mental function is 
experimented upon by a given test. The various traits so 
overlap and are so dependent upon one another in their action 
that no one trait can be completely isolated. If a test cor- 
relates well with other tests of the same or related perform- 
ances, it may be taken as a reliable index of ability in the 
functions involved, although the specific functions themselves 
cannot be definitely and exhaustively described. Most tests 
are so regarded. But within limits it is possible to state 
approximately the functions that are tested. The mixed 
relations test is primarily one of controlled association of the 
sort that is the basis of all efficient reasoning. It demands 
that a relation be perceived and applied; and then that an- 
other and a different relation be perceived and applied, and so 
on through the test. A simple test of controlled association, 
such as the opposites test, requires that a mental set or 



THE SUBJECTS AND THE TESTS. 39 

determining tendency be previously formed at the instance of 
the experimenter, and then apphed unchanged to stimuli as 
they occur. The mixed relations test goes further than this, 
and requires that the mental set itself be determined by the 
subject before it is applied, and that a different mental set 
be fixed for each stimulus. It involves what James ('92) has 
called "sagacity", and requires association by similarity, the 
perception of meaning, voluntary control of ideas. Wood- 
worth and Wells state that the test measures skill in hand- 
ling associates by means of a determining tendency; mental 
alertness and flexibility; that it is a "logical relations" test. 
It is safe to say that the functions involved are those most 
intimately concerned in that successful handling of material 
which distinguishes the intelligent and mentally active indi- 
vidual from the unintelligent and dull. The language factor 
is of course present, but where the words used are simple 
and well known, this is not important in a test of individual 
or group differences. (See Simpson, '12, p. 69ff.). 

The completion test was invented by Ebbinghaus ('97), 
and has been widely used. Wyatt ('14), as mentioned above, 
recommends the test as one of intelligence; he finds correla- 
tions of .85 and .61 with subjectively estimated intelligence 
in two classes of school pupils. Vickers and Wyatt ('13) 
found correlations of .82, .88, .76 and .82 with intelligence in 
four groups of subjects. And they found correlations of re- 
liability of .84, .87, .66 and .69 in successive trials with the 
four groups. Burt ('11), using two forms of the test, found 
correlations with intelligence of .48 and .53. Brown ('11) 
states that the test correlated .43 and .69 with general intel- 
ligence in two groups of subjects. Simpson ('12) found a 
correlation of .92 for reliability. Correlations between the 
completion and a number of other tests used by him were: 
hard opposites, .92; easy opposites, .75; memory of words, 
.92; memory of passages, .91; cancellation, .68; adding, .71; 
geometrical forms, .54; learning pairs, .72; completing words, 
.50; drawing lengths, .26; estimating lengths, .52. A cor- 
relation of .67 between the completion test and the average 
of nine other varieites of association tests was reported by 
Whitley ('11). 

The form of completion test herein used is composed of the 
twenty-five separate sentences which constitute sentences 23 
to 47, inclusive, of a completion test designed by Mr. M. R. 



40 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

Trabue*, of Columbia University. These sentences are grad- 
uated in difficulty, and have been standardized by Trabue in 
experiments upon several thousand school children. Numbers 
23 to 47 were selected because they were well adapted in diffi- 
culty for use with the school grades to be tested. A comple- 
tion test in the form of separate sentences has several advan- 
tages over one in paragraph form, such as has generally been 
used. Where a paragraph is employed, accidental factors are 
much more likely to influence the result. The subject of the 
paragraph may be relatively unfamiliar to any given pupil; 
or one unusually difficult part of the whole may render the 
completion of a large section of the rest unduly difficult. This 
cannot occur where there are a number of separate sentences 
dealing with different subjects and each counting as a unit. 
Then, too, in scoring it is probably better to score on the basis 
of sentences than of words. Thought proceeds by judgments, 
whole sentences, not by words. And in a test of thought 
power rather than of language power one should be able to 
gauge the apprehension of meaning as a whole rather than 
what is perhaps the more distinctively literary ability re- 
quired to fit a word into a specific context. It is thought, not 
its vehicle, that it is to be measured. The ability to use language 
must probably remain a factor in this test, though not the 
most important factor where the material is familiar. Thought 
and language are largely implications of each other, and in 
great measure ability in one means ability in the other. But 
as far as possible the language factor should be elminated 
and the thought factor emphasized. 

The mental functions measured by the completion test are 
akin to those involved in the mixed relations test. "This is in- 
dicated by the high correlation between the two. Ebbing- 
haus ('97) described it as essentially a test of intelligence, 
requiring the ability to combine separate impressions into a 
coherent whole. Simpson ('12) calls it a test of selective 
thinking. Whitley ('11) classes it among her association 
experiments. It would seem that the ability to perceive rela- 
tions, to apprehend meaning, to control association in order to 
fill a gap, is implied in a successful performance of the test. 
Association or selective thinking or intelligence are perhaps 
equally good terms to apply to the processes. In the language 

*Since the above was written a preliminary account, (Trabue, '15), 
of this test has been published. 



THE SUBJECTS AND THE TESTS. 41 

of popular speech, the test requires "good sense" and a 
"quick mind". 

The maze test employed is the so-called straight maze de- 
signed and used at Columbia University. This has been 
found (see Whitley, '11) to be the most satisfactory form of 
maze test. It is comparatively easy to score, and the eye 
strain resulting from its use is negligible as compared with 
certain other forms of maze. A correlation of .49 was found 
by Whitley between the straight and the average of three 
other varieties of the test. Simpson ('12), using a scroll maze, 
found a coefficient of reliability of .76 for the test and a co- 
efficient of correlation of .26 with the average of twelve tests 
of intellectual functions. 

The traits measured are quickness and accuracy of move- 
ment in drawing a line between the two sides of the maze 
without touching them — motor as opposed to intellectual 
abilities. 

The concellation test is the familiar "A Test", designed 
by Cattell and Farrand ('96). It is a regulated pied text, 
and contains one hundred A's and sixteen of each of the other 
letters — five hundred capital letters in all. The test has been 
used by many investigators and in a variety of forms, such as 
the "A— T" test, the "E— R" test, etc.; and it has been 
described as a test of various functions. Pillsbury ('08) says 
it is one of the best tests of degree of attention. Whipple 
('10) agrees that this is one of its main features. Bourdon 
('95) used it to measure discriminative ability. Judd ('07) 
similarly classes it as a test of discriminative reaction. Cattell 
and Farrand ('96) regarded it as a test of rate of perception. 
Thorndike ('04) also used it as a test of perception. Pyle 
('13) gives it as a test of perception and attention. On the 
whole, it seems that the test measures all of these capacities 
as they function together. To cancel A's it is necessary to 
perceive them discrimnatively and attentively, and to react 
by the simple cancelling movement. The correlations of the 
test with other tests and with class standing are generally 
small and sometimes negative. (See Whipple, '10). 

In giving the tests, the instructions to the subjects were 
by means of examples on a blackboard, supplemented by such 
oral directions as were necessary. A constant order of suc- 
cession was maintained among the tests. The maze was given 



42 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

first, while the pencils were sharp, then followed cancellation, 
mixed relations I, mixed relations II, and completion. This 
order was invariable except in Newport News, where, on ac- 
count of a lack of time, the mixed relations and completion 
tests were given first, to make sure that they, as the most 
important, would be finished. The schools were taken as 
wholes, one after another, and the lower grades were generally 
tested before the higher. There was no appreciable chance 
for aid in working the tests to be transmitted in conversa- 
tion from grade to grade. 

The time-limit method was used, and the effort was made 
to allow just enough time in each test to enable to quickest 
of all the subjects to finish. In Fredericksburg, where the 
tests were given first, the time allowed for the mixed relations 
test was 15 sec. longer than elsewhere, and the time allowed 
for the completion test was 30 sec. longer. The time was 
reduced in the other cities because several of the Fredericks- 
burg subjects finished the work before the time limit was 
reached. This extra time in Fredericksburg had apparently 
no effect upon the relative standing of the white and colored 
groups, but it is obvious that if the time allowed is longer than 
is necessary for the quickest subjects to complete the test, 
the group differences will be somewhat reduced. The brightest 
of the pupils will not be able to accomplish as large an amount 
of work as their ability warrants. On the v/hole, the time 
limits as used were approximately the periods required 
by the ablest of the subjects. With the exception mentioned, 
these times were as follows, for all grades: each mixed rela- 
tions test, 1 min., 45 sec. ; completion test, 8 min., 30 sec. ; maze 
test, 1 min., 30 sec. ; cancellation test, 1 min., 20 sec. The sub- 
jects were told that they would have barely time to finish if 
they worked at their highest speed. In all of the tests the 
directions were to try for as great speed as possible, while not 
making any mistakes. If an unusually difficult part of the 
test should be met, in the mixed relations and completion 
tests, they were advised to pass it by without a too great waste 
of time. A stop-watch was used, and all directions were given 
by the writer, who also did all of the scoring. 

In scoring the mixed relations test, each accurate relation 
recorded was graded 2; each partially correct relation was 
graded 1 ; each error was graded 0, as was each omission. The 



THE SUBJECTS AND THE TESTS. 43 

possible maximum score was thus 40 for each of the two parts 
in which the test was given. The scoring was, of course, 
absolutely uniform throughout, for each type of correct, 
partially correct or incorrect record. 

The completion test was scored in the same way. Each 
correct sentence was rated 2; each partially correct sentence 
was rated 1 ; and each incorrect or omitted sentence was rated 
0. Since there were twenty-five sentences, the possible maxi- 
mum score was 50. 

The maze test measured two things, speed and accuracy. 
Accuracy was scored by counting the number of touches made. 
Speed was determined by the amount of the test completed 
or the distance traversed. In rating this, each straight sec- 
tion of the maze was counted 1. Since there are 140 straight 
sections in the test, the possible maximum score for speed 
was 140. 

This test presents a difficulty in its scoring. The two 
quantities which it measures are variables which do not main- 
tain a constant ratio to each other. If only a short distance 
is traversed within the time limit, the number of touches is 
small as compared with the amount done. But if a great 
distance is traversed, the number of touches is large as com- 
pared with the space gone over. To illustrate: a distance of 
60 will mean, say, 4 touches, a ratio of 1 to 15 ; but a distance 
of 120 will mean, say, 20 touches, a ratio of 1 to 6. And yet 
the latter record may be as good as the former. As speed 
increases, accuracy normally decreases, and in a constantly 
changing ratio. 

In handling the maze test, a number of investigators have 
chosen to deduct a certain arbitrary amount from the speed 
record for each touch. Thus Whitley ('11) and Simpson 
(*12), using the am.ount-limit method, add 5 sec. and 10 sec, 
respectively, for each touch made. But this cannot be satis- 
factory. A touch made by a subject who works at great speed 
is far less significant than a touch made by a subject who 
works at a much lower speed. Where the ratio of accuracy 
to speed is a variable one, as in this case, no constant figure 
can be deducted from the speed record for each error. 

What is needed is a set of ratios, expressing the relation 
of touches to distance at each of a large number of possible 
distances. Such a set of ratios could be ascertained by ade- 
quate experiment, and they would be very interesting in 



44 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

themselves and also very useful, since there is no other prac- 
ticable group test of motor capacity. But at present they do 
not exist, and it is therefore impossible to give the best treat- 
ment to the results of the maze test. 

The method that is followed herein is to set forth the num- 
ber of touches and the distance covered by each group of sub- 
jects. The comparison of group with group must then be 
based on the relative number of touches made and the relative 
distance traversed. If the score for either touches or distance, 
or both, should be the same for each group, an accurate com- 
parison would of course be possible. Or if one group should 
exceed the other in touches but not in distance, or in distance 
but not in touches, an accurate comparison could be made. It 
generally happens, however, that one group exceeds the other 
in both touches and distance, and in this case the difficulty 
arises. The ratio of touches to distance is normally smaller 
in a slow group than in a fast one, and smaller to an unknown 
degree. 

The cancellation test also measures both speed and ac- 
curacy, but here the difficulty in equating the two is not so 
pronounced. The score for speed is obtained by counting 
the number of A's cancelled ; the score for accuracy is arrived 
at by counting the number of A's omitted in the amount of 
text gone over. 

The number of A's omitted is very small, and is constantly 
so from group to group. Roughly, only about one-third or one- 
half of the subjects make any omissions at all. And it does 
not appear that there is any very definite relation between the 
number of omissions and the number of cancellations. Sev- 
eral investigators have reported this to be true of the test. 
Woodworth and Wells ('11) say there are no workable indi- 
vidual differences in accuracy and that there is little reason 
for its being scored. Binet ('03) found that subjects worked 
with approximately equal accuracy. Others, as Thorndike 
('04), ignore omissions in giving results from the test. 
Whipple ('10) and others, however, think omissions may be 
important. Both omissions and cancellations are given for all 
of the groups in this study ; but it will be apparent that signifi- 
cance can be attached only to the latter. 

Of the tests used, the mixed relations and the completion 
were given to all subjects. The maze and the cancellation 



THE SUBJECTS AND THE TESTS. 45 

were not employed with the white high school pupils of Rich- 
mond, on account of a lack of available time. The maze was 
also not used with the white elementary pupils of Newport 
News. The white elementary pupils of Fredericksburg, 
through an oversight on the part of the experimenter, did 
not sign their names to the maze test, and their records in 
this test can consequently be used only in grade and not in 
age and sex comparisons. 

The total time consumed by these tests in the case of any 
individual subject was small, and it cannot be supposed that 
the records obtained from a given individual are an accurate 
index of his relative ability in the traits measured. Further 
trials would be necessary to establish the final standing of 
any one of the pupils in the tests. But while this is true, 
it is also true that the tests are sufficient to establish with 
accuracy the relative standing of large groups of subjects as 
wholes, and it is a group — a racial — comparison that is in 
question. Where a group is tested, the chance inaccuracies 
which deflect the true position of one individual in one direc- 
tion serve also to change the position of another individual in 
the opposite direction, so that on the whole the central ten- 
dency of the group remains unchanged from what it would 
be in the case of a very great number of measurements, the 
practice effect, of course, being disregarded. The individual 
inaccuracies balance each other, and the group standing is un- 
affected by them. It is improbable that many repeated trials 
would appreciably disturb the average score. This view is 
taken for granted in all tests upon large numbers of subjects ; 
Thorndike ('04) gives illustrations of its validity. The mixed 
relations test as herein used is another illustration, as will 
appear. For the test is given in two parts — is, in reality, two 
tests — and the relative standing of the groups compared is 
the same in each. Woodworth and Wells ('11), indeed, recom- 
mend a short test of this and related kinds as being better than 
a long one, since it is freer from interferences of a disturb- 
ing character. So the final average results of these tests may 
confidently be taken as reliable measures of the relative ability 
of whites and negroes in the traits involved, although the time 
consumed in the actual testing was short. 



CHAPTER III 
GENERAL COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES 

In the present chapter a general comparison is made be- 
tween the scores of the white and the colored subjects. In set- 
ting forth the results, the tables and graphs are arranged in 
the same order for each test. First are given the average scores 
made by each age and sex and by each grade, with their aver- 
age deviations. The tables containing these data are the basis 
of the comparisons made in the other tables, and they also give 
the figures which are represented by the graphs. The graphs 
are next in order, and serve to make the group relationships 
contained in the tables somewhat plainer. It may be noticed 
that the graphs and the tables of comparison which follow 
them omit those ages and grades in which there are not fig- 
ures for both races : no comparison is made unless the ages and 
grades are alike. The results from Richmond, Fredericks- 
burg and Newport News appear in succession in each table. 
There are no graphs for the two latter cities. 

Following the graphs, for each test come the tables in 
which the group comparisons are made. First appear the 
actual differences between the scores obtained by the two 
races, classified by age and sex and by grades. The averages 
of the separate age and grade differences are given, with their 
probable errors. These averages, of course, are the most reli- 
able figures for comparison. Next are the tables which set 
forth the percentage of the score of the whites which was 
obtained by the negroes, with the averages of the separate 
ages and grades and the probable errors of the averages. The 
tables which show the actual differences between the scores 
and those which show the percentages deal with the same 
racial differences, and are simply two ways of exhibiting the 
same group relationships. Lastly, as still another mode of 
comparison, for each test is given the percentage of each age 
and grade of the colored subjects that reaches or exceeds the 

46 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 47 

average score of the white subjects of the same age or grade. 
The averages and probable errors of the separate age and 
grade percentages are given as before. This comparison is 
made only for Richmond, since the relatively small number of 
pupils tested in Fredericksburg and Newport News would ren- 
der it somewhat unreliable for those cities. A group com- 
parison by means of the percentage of one group reaching or 
exceeding the average of the other requires a rather large 
number of subjects to be of value. If the number is small, 
chance inequalities in the distribution of the groups may 
make the percentage appear to be much too high or much too 
low. 

It should be said that this comparison in terms of the per- 
centage of the negroes reaching or exceeding the average of 
the whites is valid only in so far as the groups follow a normal 
mode of distribution. That is, the average of the groups must 
also be approximately the median of the groups. Or to put 
it in another way, approximately fifty per cent, of the groups 
must reach or exceed their own average. Otherwise, we 
would have fifty per cent, of the negroes reaching or exceeding 
the score obtained by 30 per cent, or 70 per cent., or any 
indefinite per cent., of the whites. The ideal procedure would 
be to ascertain the percentage of the negroes reaching or ex- 
ceeding the median, rather than the average, of the whites. 
But in the present comparison the averages and the medians 
of the groups compared are approximately the same, as the 
following figures will show, and the mode of comparison 
adopted is a valid one. 

In the mixed relations test, the percentage of the whites 
reaching or exceeding their own average in Test I is 50.0, 
P.E. 1.7, for all ages of the boys ; 53.5, P.E. 2.2, for all ages 
of the girls; and 54.8, P.E. 1.6, for all grades. (The grades 
contain both boys and girls). In Test II the percentage for 
boys, all ages, is 55.0, P.E. 2.3; for girls, all ages, it is 55.9, 
P.E. 2.2; and for all grades it is 55.6, P.E. 2.1. It is thus 
evident that for the white subjects in this test the average 
and the median are approximately the same, and that the 
groups follow a sufficiently normal form of distribution for 
the percentage comparison to be made in terms of the average 
rather than of the median. The figures showing the percen- 
tage of the colored subjects reaching or exceeding their own 
average are as follows : Test I — boys of all ages, 48.4, P.E. 2.4 ; 



48 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

girls of all ages, 48.7, P.E. 2.3; all grades, 48.5, P.E. 1.4. Test 
II_boys of all ages, 52.1, P.E. 2.5 ; girls of all ages, 51.2, P.E. 
3.3 ; all grades, 52.0, P.E. 1.9. Thus the colored subjects are 
also seen to be so distributed that their central tendency is 
approximately the same whether measured by average or by 
median. It worthy of note that the percentage of subjects 
reaching or exceeding their own average is somewhat higher 
in Test II than in Test I. This is due to the fact that the 
scores themselves in Test II are higher than in Test I, on 
account of the practice effect of Test I, to such extent that 
several of the brighter subjects finished the second test be- 
fore the time limit was reached, and thus did not attain their 
possible maximum score. This lowers the average standing 
in Test II so that more than fifty per cent, of the subjects 
reach or exceed it. This occurs for both races, though slightly 
more so for the whites than for the negroes, since the score 
of the whites was greater, as will appear, and more of them 
finished the test before the expiration of the time limit. A 
slightly larger percentage of the negroes, as will also appear, 
reached the average of the whites in Test II than in Test I. 
But this should not be taken to indicate that the negroes 
profited more by the practice in the first test than did the 
whites: both races reached or exceeded their average in 
greater numbers in the second test. 

In the completion test, the percentages of white subjects 
reaching or exceeding their own average are: boys, all ages, 
50.2, P.E. 2.0; girls, all ages, 52.2, P.E. 1.3; all grades, 52.7, 
P.E. 1.2. The percentages of colored subjects reaching their 
own average are: boys, all ages, 52.6, P.E. 2.6; girls, all ages, 
54.2, P.E. 2.1 ; all grades, 54.4, P.E. 1.3. In this test, as in 
the mixed relations, the average and the median are approxi- 
mately the same. 

The maze test shows the following percentages of white 
subjects reaching or exceeding their own average: boys, all 
ages— Touches, 50.0, P.E. 3.3, Distance, 52.0, P.E. 1.6; girls, 
all ages— Touches, 52.4, P.E. 2.4, Distance, 46.8, P.E. 2.8; 
all grads— Touches, 48.2, P.E. 2.7, Distance, 49.0, P.E. 2.9. 
The percentages of colored subjects reaching or exceeding 
their own average in the maze test are: boys, all ages — 
Touches, 46.6, P.E. 1.9, Distance, 46.4, P.E. .9 ; girls, all ages- 
Touches, 45.6, P.E., .9, Distance, 44.4, P.E. 1.8; all grades- 
Touches, 47.8, P.E. 2.1, Distance, 51.2, P.E. 2.3. 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 49 

In the cancellation test, the percentage of a group reaching 
its own average or the average of another group can be validly 
computed only for the cancellations, not for the omissions. 
Less than half of the subjects made any omissions at all, 
and the distribution of the omissions is consequently very 
assymmetrical. The percentages of whites reaching or exceed- 
ing their own average in cancellations are as follows: boys of 
all ages, 53.0, RE. 1.3; girls of all ages, 49.6, P.E. 1.9; all 
grades, 49.3, P.E. 1.4. The percentages of negroes reaching 
or exceeding their own average in cancellations are: boys of 
all ages, 50.0, P.E. 3.6; girls of all ages, 52.2; P.E. 3.7; all 
grades, 53.7, P.E. 1.5. 

These figures make it evident that we can compare the 
white and colored subjects in terms of the percentage of the 
colored reaching or exceeding the average of the white, since 
the distributions throughout are on the whole symmetrical.* 

Perhaps something should also be said as to the other 
tables of comparison, those which show the actual differences 
between the scores of the two races and those which show the 
percentage of the score of the whites that is obtained by the 
negroes. It sometimes happens that investigators average 
the scores of a number of different ages or grades, and make 
comparisons by exhibiting the relation between such averages. 
But this procedure makes it impossible to compute the proba- 
ble error of the differences, and thus renders the comparisons 
doubtful. If, for example, scores from ages 11 to 18 are 
averaged for two races, and a certain difference between the 
averages is set forth, one cannot tell from this difference 
alone whether any real racial superiority has been found. 

*Note may be made of the fact that in a few ages and grades no 
colored subjects reached or exceeded the average of the whites, and that 
the percentage in such cases was put down as zero. But such per- 
centages are really less than zero. And when they are counted as zero, 
as they are, in obtaining the average for all ages or grades, it is obvious 
that this procedure tends to make the average percentage too high. 
That is, it tends to make the racial difference appear to be less than 
it really is. 

Another matter that also makes the racial differences found appear to 
be less than they really are, is the fact that in the tables which show the 
percentage of the score of the whites obtained by the negroes, the per- 
centages are always expressed in terms of the white score. Hence 
whenever the negroes have a higher score than the whites, as they do 
in a few instances, the percentage expressing the fact is dispropor- 
tionately large. For example, if the whites score 100 and the negroes 
score 75, the percentage is 75; but if the whites score 75 and the negroes 
score 100, the percentage is 133. These considerations affect the final 
average-s only slightly, but they should be borne in mind. 



50 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

It may be that the separate ages show a superiority first in 
favor of one race and then in favor of the other, and so on. 
What is needed to determine the validity of the difference is 
its probable error. This will indicate how constant the dif- 
ference is from age to age — whether it is a true difference or 
is due to chance. Of course it will be recognized that probable 
errors can be computed for the averages of a number of dif- 
ferent age or grade scores. But such probable errors will be 
larger than the racial variability from age to age would war- 
rant, since scores normally increase with age. And they 
therefore cannot be used as accurate measures of the probable 
error of the racial difference. 

Where, as in the tables of comparison contained herein, 
the differences between the scores of the separate ages are 
found, the average of these differences can be obtained and 
also the probable error of the average. If the differences for 
the separate ages are pronouncedly in favor of one of the two 
races, the probable error will be small as compared with the 
average. Even though slight, the average difference will in- 
dicate a real racial superiority if its probable error is small. 
But if the differences between the separate ages are chance 
differences which favor first one race and then the other, no 
matter if the average difference is large, it will yet be seen 
to be no true index on account of its large probable error. 
This principle is as applicable to those of the following tables 
which exhibit the percentage of the score of the whites ob- 
tained by the negroes, as it is to those which set forth the 
actual differences. In the percentage tables also, the average 
of the different ages is computed and its probable error is 
given with it. 

Mixed Relations Test 
The scores obtained by the two races in this test are shown 
in Tables 5 and 6, and in Figures 1-6. It may be noted that in 
Test II the scores are somewhat higher than in Test I. This 
is evidently due to the practice that the first test afforded. 
It may also be noted, (Figs. 3 and 6), that there is a pro- 
nounced jump in the scores of the colored grades when high 
school is reached, and that this jump does not occur in the 
scores of the white grades. This is probably the effect of the 
more intense action of selection upon the colored than upon the 
white high school pupils, as was pointed out in the preceding 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 



61 



chapter. In some of the high school years the colored are 
superior to the white subjects, but this does not occur in the 
elementary school. 

TABLE V. 
Mixed Relations Test — Scores by Age and Sex 

Richmond. 

Ages 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 

Test I. 

Boys — white 

Av 14.8 16.5 18.3 18.0 20.1 27.8 25.6 25.0 

A.D 6.6 7.3 8.7 7.3 10.0 5.9 8.1 4.0 

Boys— Col. 

Av 11.5 10.2 11.8 13.7 12.9 20.5 22.0 20.0 15.3 

A.D 3.8 4.4 5.0 6i5 6.9 8.4 8.5 8.4 7.6 

Girls — white 

Av 16.9 18.8 18.0 22.7 23.0 25.0 19.8 16.6 18.5 

A.D 6.0 4.2 7.4 8.3 8.6 7.4 6.2 3.8 .5 

Girls— Col. 

Av 10.0 12.4 10.6 12.4 14.5 18.6 21.1 26.0 18.4 22.6 

A.D 5.3 4.4 4.8 6.0 7.5 9.1 6.8 6.8 8.4 9.3 

Test II. 

Boys — white 

Av 16.5 19.5 21.3 24.1 22.0 33.0 34.6 29.6 

A.D. 8.0 9.3 9.2 9.5 11.9 5,5 5.2 4.6 

Boys— Col. 

Av 12.6 11,6 13.7 16.3 19.2 25.7 32.0 32.1 31.2 

A.D 8.1 6.6 5.8 10.0 11.0 8.5 7.1 7.1 3.7 

Girls — white 

Av 22.0 22.4 21.5 24.7 28.6 31.7 27.« 23.0 18.5 

A.D 6.4 8.2 8.5 10.7 7.4 6.9 7.2 11.4 1.5 

Girls— Col. 

Av 14.0 17.2 10.6 11.8 16.4 22.1 27.9 31.9 22.7 24.0 

A.D 4.0 5.0 4.7 6.6 10.8 9.1 6.8 7.1 9.2 5.3 

Fredericksburg. 

Test I. 

Boys — whit© 

Av 10.6 20.5 14.4 23.1 27.5 23.5 28.8 38.0 

A.D 4.0 12.5 6.4 10.7 9.4 13.1 8.5 2.0 

Boys— Col. 

Av 11.3 9.5 .. 14.0 11.2 .. 22.0 19.5 

A.D 1.6 3.5 .. 5.3 2.6 .. 8.5 

Girls — white 

Av 20.5 19.5 22.5 19.3 16.6 26.8 20.5 

A.D 11.1 6.1 11.1 14.0 8.0 9.6 10.5 

Girls— Col. 

Av 10.7 10.5 6.0 28.5 21.3 13.5 18.5 

A.D 4.7 1.9 4.0 8.5 8.9 6.5 7.5 

Test II. 

Boys — white 

Av 22.6 23.5 17.8 26.5 33.4 32.1 34.0 38.0 

A.D 6.6 15.2 10.8 12.5 7.5 6.5 6.8 1.3 

Boys— Col. 

Av 13.3 8.5 .. 20.3 19.0 .. 29.0 22.7 

A.D 5.0 .5 .. 9.6 7.6 .. 2.0 13.2 

Girls — white 

Av 25.8 19.1 29.0 22.6 24.8 32,2 28.0 

A.D 12.1 7.1 9.7 8.3 5.5 7.0 8.0 

Girls— Col. 

Av 13.3 11.0 16.0 35.0 27.6 23.0 21.0 

A.D 8.1 2.8 12.0 3.0 5.8 9.0 16.0 



52 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 



Ages 
Test I. 
Boys — white 

Av 

A.D 

Boys— Col. 

Av 

A.D 

Girls — ^white 

Av 

A.D 

Girls— Col. 

Av 

A.D 

Test II. 
Boys — white 

Av 

A.D 

Boys— Col. 

Av 

A.D 

Girls — white 

Av 

A.D 

Girls— Col. 

Av 

A.D 



10 





Newport News. 






11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


27.6 


16.4 


20.9 


18.9 


15.2 




3.3 


6.4 

13.5 
9.5 


8.3 


5.3 

7.0 
1.0 


4.7 


•• 


19.6 


23.1 


18.7 


16.3 


10.7 


24.5 


4.6 


6.6 


7.3 


7.1 


4.7 


1.5 




7.7 


7.0 


6.0 


2.0 


8.6 


•• 


4.1 


1.0 


1.8 





6.6 


83.6 


24.4 


24.7 


20.8 


21.0 




3.3 


7.1 

21.5 
15.5 


9.4 


8.3 

7.0 
1.0 


5.2 





17 



18 19 



30.4 30.9 23.9 22.0 12.5 31.0 
2.4 5.6 7.8 10.2 10.0 3.0 



9.4 
3.0 



4.2 
2.6 



6.8 
2.4 



4.6 
3.3 



4.0 
1.3 



TABLE VI. 

Mixes) Relations Test — Scores by Grades 

Richmond. 



Grades 


5A 


5B 6A 6B 7A 


7B 


lA 


2A 


2B 


3A 4A 


Test I. 
















White Av 


13.1 


13.9 16.8 16.8 18.4 
4.0 4.6 6.2 5.8 


24.9 
6.9 


25.5 
7.3 


28.0 
6.8 


•• 


23.1 23.3 


A.D 


... 6.5 


7.2 8.6 


Col. Av 


. . . . 8.9 


10.3 13.0 13.4 9.7 


12.2 


21.4 


20.7 


17.7 


29.4 22.6 


A.D 


... 3.5 


3.1 5.9 5.2 5.1 


6.3 


6.8 


7.7 


6.1 


4.4 9.3 


Test II. 
















White Av 


. ... 14.8 


18.0 19.8 22.6 21.8 


29.4 


29.0 


33.6 




31.8 30.2 


A.D 


... 7.0 


6.2 9.2 7.5 9.1 


8.5 


7.9 


5.2 




6.9 7.8 


Col. Av 


. . . . 9.7 


10.3 14.0 13.9 16.5 


11.8 


27.1 


28.1 


24.6 


35.4 29.6 


A.D 


.... 4.8 


5.6 6.7 7.1 8.2 


6.6 


8.5 


6.9 


8.0 


2.6 8.2 


Test I. 




Fredericksburg. 












White Av..... 


• • • • • • 


.. 16.2 .. 18.5 




23.1 


22.6 




26.3 30.8 


A.D 


• • • • • 


..8.1 .. 10.0 




9.8 


12.8 




9.8 7.1 


Col. Av 


> • • • • • 


.. 10.7 .. 8.2 




13.6 


16.2 




22.5 24.2 


A.D 


... 


..2.7 .. 4.5 




4.8 


6.2 




9.8 6.2 


Test II. 
















White Av 


• • • • • • 


.. 19.1 .. 22.0 




32.5 


27.8 




32.9 34.3 


A.D 


• • . 


.. 10.1 .. 11.0 




6.7 


8.8 




5.2 6.9 


Col. Av 


• • • • > • 


.. 10,6 .. 11.1 




20.6 


23.5 




30.3 30.1 


A.D 





.. 3.8 .. 4.7 




9.0 


6.1 




7.8 7.1 


Test I. 




Newport News. 












White Av 


• • • • • • 


. . . . 15.7 22.5 


20.6 








. . 


A.D 


• • • • • 


.. ..6.8 6.1 


7.3 








. . 


Col. Av 


• * • • • 


..7.8 .. 7.4 










. . 


A.D 


• • • • • 


..3.5 .. 3.6 










. . 


Test II. 
















White Av 





. . . . 23.2 24.9 


25.5 










A.D 


• • * • • 


.. ..9.1 8.2 


8.6 








.' .' 


Col. Av 


• • • • • 


..8.5 .. 7.1 










. . 


A.D 





.. 4.3 .. 3.8 


, , 


, , 






. . . • 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 



63 



SCORE 
JO 









/J 

/o 

6 



-1 


^ 




u 


i] 


1 


I 




n 


1 


/\&E 


W 

/ 


c 1 w c 
/ 1 /2 


W C 1 w c |w cl 


w c Iw c 1 

/6 \ /7 \ 


w cl 

/r 1 



Fig. 1. Mixed Relations Test I — Scores of White and Colored Boys — 
Richmond.* 

*Th€ white and the black columns indicate the scores of the white and 
the colored subjects, respectively. 



scone 
SO 



2S 

(20 

/s 

10 

5 



W 


V 


1 


1 


1 




( 


\ 


t 


1 


AGE 


w c 1 w 
// 1 / 


c Iw 

2 1 / 




w 


71 


w 

/ 


c 1 w 
s 1 / 


71 


w c Iw 

/ 7 1 / 


71 



Mixed Relations Test I — Scores of White and Colored Girls — 




Fig. 3. Mixed Relations 
Grades — Richmond. 



Test I — Scores of White and Colored 



54 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 




Fig. 4. Mixed Relations Test II — Scores of White and Colored Boys- 
Richmond. 




rvv c 
// 

Fig. 5. Mixed Relations Test II — Scores of White and Colored Girls- 
Richmond. 




Fig. 6. Mixed Relations Test II — Scores of White and Colored 
Grades — Richmond. 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROE^S. 55 

It is interesting to note that the gradual increas-.e in the 
scores as the age of the subjects increases comes to a stand- 
still in the upper years; indeed, the graphs show thad the 
older pupils as a whole have somewhat lower scores than tK^ose 
immediately below them in age. This is to be expected. In a 
group of pupils taken from any limited number of school 
grades, those whose ages are highest will not do as well in 
tests of ability as their ages would seem to warrant. When 
the elementary school pupils alone are classified by age their 
scores do not progressively increase, but instead tend to de- 
crease in the upper years as do those of the high school pupils 
represented in the graphs. The white elementary pupils tested 
in Richmond ranged, in numbers large enough for compari- 
son, from 11 to 15 years of age, inclusive. And their scores 
for each age were as follows: Mixed Relations Test I — Boys, 
14.8, 15.0, 17.3, 16.0, 13.7; Girls, 16.9, 18.8, 17.0, 17.2, 15.2. 
Mixed Relations Test II— Boys, 16.5, 18.0, 20.6, 22.1, 15.0; 
Girls, 22.0, 22.1, 21.0, 17.4, 16.7. The scores for the dif- 
ferent ages of colored elementary pupils behaved in the 
same way. It is thus evident that there is precisely the same 
sort of decrease in the scores of the higher ages that was 
found for the high school pupils. 

The explanation of this decrease with age is probably to 
be sought in the bearings of the general fact that within 
any school grade the younger pupils have greater natural 
ability than the older. If the older pupils had had great 
ability, they would have passed out of the grade; that the 
younger pupils are so advanced as to be classed with the 
older pupils is evidence of their considerable capacity. The 
younger pupils in a shorter length of time have done the 
same amount of work that the older pupils have done in a 
greater length of time. A grade contains the best of the 
young and the worst of the old. So when the pupils in the 
upper grades of the elementary school are classified by age, 
it is apparent that the older pupils will be those of less native 
ability and the younger pupils will be those of greater native 
ability. The younger pupils in the upper elementary grades 
are the best of their age; the older pupils are the poorest of 
their age. The poor and mediocre pupils of the same age 
as the younger group have not yet reached the higher grades 
of the elementary school; the able pupils of the same age as 
the older group have passed on into high school. The same 



V 



56 / THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

reasoning- applies to the school system as a whole, including 
the hi'^h school as the highest grades. The older pupils in 
the upper grades of the high school have not as great natural 
ability as the younger pupils. The ablest pupils of the same 
age as the older group have finished the high school course, 
and left behind only the mediocre and the poor. But the 
younger group is composed of the brightest pupils of their 
age, for those of less ability have not yet reached the upper 
grades. That this explanation of the smaller scores made 
by the oldest pupils tested is pertinent, is further indicated 
by the fact that the graphs which give the scores by grades 
do not show the decrease for the advanced pupils as it is shown 
by the graphs which give the scores by ages. Grades are 
supposedly groups of an increasiing degree of ability. 

The truth of the view set forth above is still further borne 
out by an incidental comparison that came to light in the 
present investigation. In the elementary schools at Richmond 
were tested 30 white boys, 20 white girls, 24 colored boys and 
38 colored girls, 112 in all, of ages 14 and 15, combined. In 
the high schools at Richmond were tested 18 white boys, 25 
white girls, 10 colored boys and 31 colored girls, 84 in all, of 
ages 14 and 15, combined. It is true that there was a larger 
proportion of 14 than of 15 year old pupils in the elemen- 
tary groups, and a larger proportion of 15 than of 14 year old 
pupils in the high school groups. But this is of no conse- 
quence, since the 14 year old elementary pupils are fully as 
able as those 15 years old, as was shown two paragraphs 
above; and since the same thing is true of 14 and 15 year 
old pupils in the high school, as will be shown three paragraphs 
below. So these groups may be considered as of the same 
age, one set being in the elementary school and one set in the 
high school. The scores obtained by them in three tests were 
as follows: 

Mixed Relations Test I — White Boys, Elementary, 14.8, 
High School, 24.1 ; White Girls, Elementary, 16.2, High School, 
27.7 ; Colored Boys, Elementary, 10.2, High School, 22.0 ; Col- 
ored Girls, Elementary, 8.9, High School, 23.9. Mixed Rela- 
tions Test II — ^White Boys, Elementary, 18.5, High School, 
28.6; White Girls, Elementary, 17.0, High School, 33.7; Col- 
ored Boys, Elementary, 12.3, High School, 31.8 ; Colored Girls, 
Elementary, 10.2, High School, 29.0. Completion Test— White 
Soys, Elementary, 18.4, High School, 28.6; White Girls, Ele- 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 57 

mentary, 16.1, High School, 33.1; Colored Boys, Elementary, 
12.6, High School, 23.5 ; Colored Girls, Elementary, 15.6, High 
School, 25.4. The maze and cancellation tests did not bring 
out marked differences anywhere, as will appear, and the dif- 
ferences revealed by them in this comparison of the elementary 
and high schools were not considerable. 

These figures show that the white high school pupils ob- 
tained on the whole nearly twice the score that was reached 
by the elementary pupils of the same age; and that the col- 
ored high school pupils obtained on the whole more than twice 
the score that was received by the equally old elementary 
pupils. Thus is borne out the contention that the older pupils 
in the upper grades of the elementary school are the poorest 
of their age; the brightest of their age have passed beyond 
the elementary school. And it is reasonable to suppose that 
the same state of affairs exists in the upper high school grades. 
The able 18 year old students have gone out of the school and 
left behind their less able fellows. And these are inferior to 
pupils of normal high school ability at a lower age. 

It follows as a corollary of the above, that the youngest 
pupils represented in the graphs have scores which are too 
high to be truly representative of their ages. The lowest ages 
in any limited number of grades contain only the brightest 
pupils of those ages; the mediocre and the dull have not yet 
reached the grades in question. While the highest ages score 
too low, the lowest ages score too high. So it appeared that 
the youngest and the oldest pupils in the elementary grades 
tested in Richmond stood close together in their scores, and 
this was probably on account of the undue superiority of the 
young as much as on account of the undue inferiority of the 
old. The same is true of the high school taken alone. Ages 
14 to 18, inclusive, were represented in the Richmond high 
schools in sufficient numbers for comparison. The scores 
received by the different ages of both white and colored pupils 
behaved in the same way; the scores of the white high school 
pupils follow: Mixed Relations Test I— Boys, 23.1, 25.2, 31.3, 
25.6, 25.0; Girls, 30.3, 25.2, 25.6, 20.1, 16.6. Mixed Relations 
Test H— Boys, 29.0, 28.3, 36.8, 34.6, 29.6; Girls, 35.4, 32.0, 
32.5, 28.0, 23.0. As in the case of the elementary school, the 
oldest and the youngest high school pupils do not stand far 
apart in their scores. And as the older pupils scored too low, 
so the younger pupils scored too high. ' This is evidenced by 



58 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

the fact that when all of the pupils of their age, both elemen- 
tary and high school, are considered together, the resulting 
score, which is the true one, is much lower. Of course it is 
the combined score of both high school and elementary pupils 
of the same age that is represented in the tables and graphs. 

This suggests a matter to which attention should be called. 
The attempt is sometimes made to establish norms for vari- 
ous ages of pupils in psychological tests. The idea is to as- 
certain by a large number of experiments the performance 
that may be expected from a child of a certain age. But it is 
very evident that such attempts can only serve to mislead if 
they deal, say, with pupils in the higher elementary grades 
without taking the high school into consideration, or if they 
deal with the lower grades of the high school without taking 
the elementary school into consideration. In the former case, 
the resulting norms for the higher ages will be much too low ; 
in the latter case, for the same ages, they will be much too 
high. A fourteen or fifteen year old child in the school system 
is not a typical fourteen or fifteen year old child. He is typi- 
cal of a child of his age in high or in elementary school, 
and not in general. The only way in which valid age norms 
may be established is by testing the ages throughout their 
normal distributions among the grades. Or if only one school 
is tested, the elementary or the high school, it should at least 
be stated that such is the case, so that one may be able to 
make proper allowances for the findings reported. Even this 
has not always been done. 

Attention may also be called to the bearing of the compara- 
tives scores of the elementary and high school pupils of the 
same age upon a contention that was made in the preceding 
chapter. These scores show that the high school pupils are 
superior to the elementary school pupils of equal age to a 
considerably greater extent in the case of the negroes than 
of the whites. The high school negroes more than doubled 
the score of the elementary school negroes in each of the four 
comparisons in the mixed relations test, but the high school 
whites did not double the score of the elem.entary whites in 
any of the four comparisons ; in the completion test, the high 
school doubled the score of the elementary school only in the 
case of the white girls. This fits in with the other indications 
that the colored high school is a more closely selected group 
from the point of view of ability than is the white high school. 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 59 

TABLE VII. 

Mixed Relations Test — Difference Between Scores op; White 

AND Colored Subjects Classified by Age and Sex 

(Minus signa indicate greater scores by the colored subjects.) 

Richmond. 
Ages 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Av. P.E. 

Test I. 

Boys 3.3 6.3 6.5 4.3 7.2 7.3 3.6 5.0 5.4 .4 

Girls 4.5 8.2 5.6 8.2 4.4 3.9 —6.2 —1.8 3.3 1.1 

Test II. 

Boys 3.9 7.9 7.6 7.8 2.8 7.3 2.6 —2.5 4.7 .9 

Girls * 4.8 11.8 9.7 8.3 6.5 3.8 —4.1 .3 5.1 1.2 

Fredericksburg. 
Test I. 

Boys 4.9 .. 13.5 12.3 .. 16.0 11.7 1.4 

Girls 8.8 12.0 13.3 —11.9 5.5 7.0 5.8 2.1 

Test II. 

Boys 9.3 . . 13.1 13.1 . . 9.0 11.1 .8 

Girls 5.8 18.0 6.6—10.2 4.6 5.0 4.9 1.8 

Newport News. 
Test I. 

Boys 2.9 .. 11.9 7.4 2.7 

Girls . . 15.4 11.7 10.3 8.7 11.5 .8 

Test II. 

Boys 2.9 .. 13.8 8.3 3.2 

Girls 21.5 19.7 15.2 7.9 16.1 1.9 

TABLE VIIL 

Mixed Relations Test — Difference Between Scores of White and 

Colored Subjects Classified by Grades 

(Minus signs indicate greater scores by the colored subjects.) 

Richmond. 
Grades 5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 3A 4A Av. P.E. 

test 1 4.2 3.6 3.8 3.4 8.7 12.7 4.1 7,3 —6.3 .7 4.2 .& 

Test II 5.1 7.7 5.8 8.7 5.3 17.6 1.9 5.5 —3.6 .6 5.5 .9 

Fredericksburg. 

Test 1 5.5 .. 10.3 .. 9.5 6.4 3.8 6.6 7.0 .7 

Test II 8.5 .. 10.9 .. 11.9 4.3 2.6 4.2 7.1 1.6 

Newport News. 

Test 1 15.1 15.1 .. 

Test II 17.8 .. .. 17.8 .. 

TABLE IX. 

Mixed Relations Test — Percentage of the Score of the White 

Obtained by the Colored Subjects, Classified by Age and Sex 

Richmond. 

Ages 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Av. P.E. 

Test I. 

Boys 78 61 64 76 64 74 86 80 72.9 2.2 

Girls 74 57 69 64 81 84 131 111 83.9 5.7 

Test II. 

Boys 76 58 64 67 87 78 93 108 78.9 3.9 

Girls 78 46 54 67 78 88 115 99 78.1 5.1 

Fredericksburg. 
Test I. 

Boys 65 .. 50 47 .. 58 55.0 2.7 

Girls 54 45 30 170 80 65 74.0 11.9 

Test II. 

Boys 48 . . 60 59 . . 76 60.7 3.2 

Girls 69 38 71 141 86 82 81.2 7.7 



60 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

Newport News. 
Test I. 

Boys 82 .. 37 59.5 13.2 

Girls 33 38 36 21 32.0 2.3 

Test II. 

Boys 88 . . 34 61.0 16.2 

Girls 31 18 31 34 28.5 2.3 

TABLE X. 

Mixed Relations Test — Percentage of the Score op the White 
Obtained by the Colored Subjects, Classified by Grades 

Richmond. 

Grades 5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 3A 4A Av. P.E. 

Test I.. 68 74 78 80 52 49 84 74 127 97 78.3 3.9 
Test II. 66 57 71 62 76 39 93 84 111 98 75.7 4.4 



Test I, . 






66 


F] 


rederic 
43 


:ksbui 


59 


72 


85 


79 67.3 


3.8 


Test II. 


, . 


, , 


55 




50 


. . 


63 


85 


92 


88 72.2 


5.6 










Newport News. 










Test I. . 


, , 


, , 


, , 


, , 


31 


, , 


, , 


, , 


, , 


. . 31.0 


^ ^ 


Test II. 




• • 






29 


• • 


.. 


•• 




. . 29.0 


•• 










TABLE XI 


. 










Mixed '. 


Relations ' 


Iest- 


-Percentage of 


Colored 


Subjects Reaching 


or 


Exceeding 


the Average of 


the 


White, by Age and Sex 












AND BY 


Grades 




















Richmond. 












Ages 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


18 




Av. 


P.E. 


Test I. 
























Boys . . 


..33 


14 


21 


37 


15 


25 


33 


17 


^ , 


.. 24.4 


2.2 


Girls .. 


.. 22 


11 


26 


21 


32 


33 


78 


53 




.. 34.5 


4.5 


Test II. 
























Boys . . 


.. 33 


15 


16 


28 


47 


21 


56 


67 


, , 


.. 35.4 


4.8 


Girls .. 


.. 25 


10 


15 


29 


37 


42 


74 


53 




.. 35.6 


4.8 


Grades 


5A 


5B 


6A 


6B 


7A 


7B 


lA 


2A 


3A 


4A 




Test I. . 


.. 21 


20 


37 


22 


13 


11 


34 


29 


87 


56 33.0 


4.2 


Test II, 


...18 


19 


24 


18 


32 





62 


26 


88 


52 33.9 


5.2 



To return to the comparative scores of negroes and whites 
in the mixed relations test. Tables 7-11 give the detailed 
comparisons. In every instance, as shown by the averages, 
the whites surpassed the negroes, and the probable errors are 
so small as to render the averages very reliable. In Test I, 
in Richmond, the colored boys obtained 72.9 per cent, of the 
score of the white boys; the colored girls obtained 83.9 per 
cent, of the score of the white girls; the colored grades ob- 
tained 78.3 per cent, of the score of the white grades. In Test 
II, the colored boys and girls obtained 78.9 and 78.1 per cent., 
respectively, of the score of the white boys and girls, and the 
colored grades scored 75.7 per cent, as high as did the white 
grades. The figures are very constant. We may conveniently 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 



61 



average the percentages for boys, girls and grades, and find 
that in Test I the colored pupils obtained 78.4 per cent, of the 
score of the whites, and that in Test II they obtained 77.6 
per cent, of the white score. In Fredericksburg and Newport 
News the percentage of the score of the whites obtained by 
the negroes was considerably smaller than in Richmond. 

The figures showing the percentage of Richmond negroes 
reaching or exceeding the average of the whites are as follows : 
Test I— Boys, 24.4; Girls, 34.5; Grades, 33.0. Test II— Boys, 
35.4 ; Girls, 35.6 ; Grades, 33.9. Averaging the percentages for 
boys, girls and grades, we find that in Test I 30.6 per cent, 
of the negroes reached or exceeded the white score, and that 
in Test II 35.0 per cent, of them reached or exceeded the score 
of the whites. 

It is apparent that this test reveals a considerable differ- 
ence between the two races. In both the first and second 
tests the difference is about equally marked, and it is approxi- 
mately the same for both boys and girls and for both ages and 
grades. 

Completion Test 

The actual scores in the Completion Test appear in Tables 
12 and 13, classified by age and sex and by grades. These 
tables are the basis of Figures 7-9, and of Tables 14-18, in 
which the detailed comparisons are made. In this test, as in 
the mixed relations, though to a less degree, may be noted 
the relative superiority of the higher colored grades, and the 
fact that the higher ages, on the whole, do not show pro- 
gressively increasing scores as do the lower ages. 



TABLE XII. 
Completion Test — Scores by Age and Sex 



Richmond. 



10 



11 12 



13 



14 15 16 17 



18 



15.3 18.7 18.7 21.2 23.4 30.7 30.7 25.2 
4.3 7.2 6.9 8.2 6.4 7.4 6.9 5.8 



A.D. 



4.6 3.1 3.0 3.7 6.3 5.2 5.0 6.3 3.8 



19 



Ages 

Boys — white 

Av 

A.D 

Boys— Col. 

Av 

A.D 

Girls — ^white 

Av 

A.D 

Girls— Col. 

Av 13.6 16.8 13.9 14.5 17.9 22.0 24.0 28.1 23.9 28.6 



8.8 13.2 13.6 15.8 16.1 21.2 28.1 31.3 27.2 

1.8 2.2 4.8 6.1 8.6 7.8 7.6 5.6 5.2 

18.9 20.9 17.0 25.3 27.7 28.9 30.0 33.2 33.5 

4.3 5.7 5.0 8.5 8.3 7.8 8.0 3.0 .5 



.6 



62 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 







Fredericksburg. 












Ages 


10 11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


18 


19 


Boys — ^white 




















Av 


. . 24.6 


12.0 


19.1 


23.0 


23.7 


33.0 


31.5 


43.3 


^ ^ 


A.D 


.. 8.0 


4.0 


7.2 


10.0 


9.0 


6.0 


5.5 


3.0 


^ ^ 


Boys — Col. 




















Av 




15.6 


10.0 


, , 


22.0 


17.2 


, , 


26.5 


24.5 


A.D 




3.3 


3.0 




10.0 


5.4 


, , 


2.5 


6.5 


Girls — ^white 




















Av 


. . 


24.4 


16.5 


25.5 


22.5 


28.8 


39.2 


35.0 


^ , 


A.D 


. . . • 


6.0 


6.1 


6.0 


4.1 


7.1 


5.8 


0. 


• e 


Girls— Col. 




















Av 


. . 




15.3 


15.0 


22.6 


25.0 


24.2 


11.0 


28.0 


A.D 


. . 


. . 


4.5 


3.2 


4.6 


8.0 


8.0 


4.0 


13.0 






Newport News. 












Boys — ^white 




















Av 


. . 25.3 


23.2 


24.7 


20.4 


14.8 


^ ^ 


, , 


^ ^ 


^ , 


A.D 


.. 2.3 


5.6 


6.8 


5.3 


3.2 








^ , 


Boys— Col. 




















Av 


• • • • 


16.5 


^ ^ 


14.7 


^ ^ 


^ , 


, . 


• •- 


• • 


A.D 




2.5 




2.7 












Girls — ^white 




















Av 


. . 30.8 


23.0 


21.8 


21.0 


21.5 


22.0 






^ ^ 


A.D 


.. 4.8 


5.2 


5.2 


5.4 


3.5 


5.0 








Girls— Col. 




















Av 


. . 


13.5 


13.1 


12.5 


8.6 


9.0 




^ ^ 


^ ^ 


A.D 


• • . . 


5.7 


2.5 


4.4 


2.0 


5.3 


, , 


, . 





Grades 



TABLE XIIL 
Completion Test — Scores by Grades 
Richmond. 
5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 2B 3A 4A 



White Av 


.... 13.3 


15.1 17.6 22.5 19.4 25.6 27.0 30.5 


. . 31.2 34.5 


A.D 


... 4.6 


4.7 4.6 3.8 5.2 6.8 7.1 6.7 


.. 5.9 6.0 


Col. Av 


. ... 11.3 


13.2 14.2 16.5 16.1 15.7 21.8 27.2 23.4 28.4 29.4 


A.D 


... 3.5 


2.6 4.1 4.0 4.3 4.4 6.3 6.3 
Fredericksburg. 


4.5 4.8 6.6 


White Av 


• • • • • 


. . 17.5 . . 21.3 . . 26.7 26.5 


. . 36.0 36.1 


A.D 





.. 7.0 .. 6.0 .. 7.8 6.4 


. . 5.1 6.0 


Col. Av 


• • • • > • 


. . 13.0 . . 19.2 . . 18.4 20.7 


. . 24.2 30.1 


A.D 





.. 3.5 .. 4.8 .. 3.5 5.0 
Newport News. 


. . 9.7 6.6 


White Av 


• • • • • 


. . . . 21.9 21.9 23.7 . . . . 




A.D 


• • • • • 


.. ..7.5 5.0 6.5 .. .. 




Col. Av 





.. 12.6 .. 13.3 




A.D 


• . • • • 


.. 3.8 .. 4.8 





The colored boys in Richmond obtained 78.5 per cent, of 
the score of the white boys. The colored girls obtained 80.0 
per cent, of the score of the white girls. And the colored 
grades obtained 81.7 per cent, of the score of the white grades. 
The average for boys, girls and grades is 80.1. In Fredericks- 
burg and Newport News the negroes are more inferior to the 
whites than in Richmond, as was the case in the mixed rela- 
tions test. And the difference between the races is about the 
same for both boys and girls and for both ages and grades. 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 



63 




Fig. 7. Completion Test — Scores of White and Colored Boys- 
Richmond. 




Fig. 8. Completion Test. — Scores of White and Colored Girls- 
Richmond. 




Fig. 9. Completion Test— Scores of White and Colored Grades- 
Richmond. 



64 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

In Richmond the percentage of colored boys reaching or 
exceeding the average of the whites was 32.5. The percentage 
of colored girls reaching or exceeding the average of the 
whites was 24.7. By grades, the percentage of colored sub- 
jects reaching or exceeding the average of the whites was 
26.5. The average for boys, girls and grades is 27.9. 

TABLE XIV. 

Completion Test — Difference Between Scores op White and Col- 
ored Subjects Classified by Age and Sex 

(Minus signs indicate greater scores by the colored subjects.) 

Richmond. 

Ages 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Av. P.E. 



Boys 

Girls 

Boys 
Girls 



Boys 
Girls 



6.5 5.5 5.1 5.4 7.3 9.5 2.6 —6.1 4.5 .9 

2.1 7.0 2.5 7.4 5.7 4.9 1.9 9.3 5.1 .7 

16.8 10.8 2.3 

15.0 24.0 9.1 2.6 

..6.2 .3 

..9.9 .3 



7.0 


2.5 


7.4 5.7 4.9 
Fredericksburg. 




9.1 


1.7 15.8 




1.2 


10.5 — .1 3.8 
Newport News. 


6.7 


, , 


5.7 


9.5 


8.7 


8.5 12.9 



TABLE XV. 

Completion Test — Difference Between Scores op White and Col- 
ored Subjects Classified by Grades 

(Minus signs indicate greater scores by the colored subjects.) 











Richmond. 






Grades 




5A 


6B 


6A 6B 7A 7B 1A 2A 3A 


4A Av. 


P.E. 






2.0 


1.9 


3.4 6.0 3.3 9.9 5.2 3.3 2.8 
Fredericksburg. 

4.5 ..2.1 .. 8.3 5.8 11.8 
Newport News. 

. . 8.6 


5.1 4.3 

6.0 6.4 
.. 8.6 


.5 

.8 








TABLE XVI. 






Completion Test— 


Percentage of the Score op the White Obtained 




BY THE 


Colored Subjects, Classified by Age and 


Sex 












Richmond. 






Ages 


11 


12 


13 


14 15 16 17 18 


Av. 


P.E. 


Boys 
Girls 


57 
89 


71 
67 


73 
85 


74 68 69 92 124 
70 80 83 94 72 


78.5 
80.0 


4.2 
2.3 


Boys 
Girls 


•• 


•• 


52 
92 


Fredericksburg. 

93 52 .. 61 
58 100 87 62 31 


64.5 
71.7 


6.9 
7.3 


Boys 
Girls 


•• 


71 
59 


60 


Newport News. 

71 

60 39 


71.0 
54.5 


.0 
3.4 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 65 

TABLE XVII. 

Completion Test — Percentage op the Score of the White Obtained 
BY THE Colored Subjects, Classified by Grades 

Richmond. 
Grades 5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 3A 4A Av. P.E. 

85 87 81 73 83 62 81 89 91 85 81.7 1.5 

Fredericksburg. 
.. .. 74 .. 90 .. 69 78 67 83 76.8 2.3 

Newport News. 
61 61.0 

TABLE XVIII. 

Completion Test — Percentage of Colored Subjects Reaching ob 
Exceeding the Average of the White, by Age and Sex and 

by Grades 



Agres 


11 


12 


13 


Richmond. 

14 15 16 


17 


18 


Av. 


P.E. 


Boys 
Girls 



33 


14 
9 


26 
41 


35 25 21 
17 19 24 


56 
48 


83 .. 

7 .. 


.. 32.5 
. . 24.7 


5.7 
3.& 



Grades 5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 3A 4A 

33 34 20 15 32 26 29 48 28 26.5 2.3 

The racial differences are very similar in all respects to 
those brought out by the mixed relations test. They are 
equally constant in the two tests, the small probable errors 
render them equally valid, and they are of approximately 
equal amounts. This was to be expected, since the two tests 
deal in general with the same mental traits, and the results 
from the two serve to reinforce and establish the validity of 
each other. The results from the two tests and the three 
cities and in the various modes of comparison make it in- 
dubitable that in the important mental capacities measured 
whites are much superior to negroes. 

Just how much the whites are superior in the traits meas- 
ured it is impossible to say. For we do not know the zero 
point of the tests. Averaging the results from the mixed 
relations tests, I and II, and from the completion test, we find 
that in the tests themselves the negroes did 78.7 per cent, as 
well as the whites. But we cannot say more than this. We 
cannot say that the negroes have 78.7 per cent, of the ability 
of the whites, for we have no index of where the ability in 
question begins. 



66 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 



Maze Test 

The scores for the maze test are set forth in Tables 19 
and 20. These tables, so far as they concern Richmond, are 
made plainer by Figures 10-12. An examination of these fig- 
^lres shows that in every age for each sex, and in every grade 
•except one, the whites covered a greater distance and made 
more touches than did the negroes. This seems to be a racial 
difference for the subjects tested. It appears in the Freder- 
icksburg results as well as in those of Richmond. The negroes 
were more careful than the whites. The significance of this 
is difficult to tell. And it becomes especially difficult when it 
is considered in connection with the fact, which will appear, 
that the negroes were not more careful in the cancellation 
test. 

TABLE XIX. 

Maze Test — Scores by Age and Sex 

Richmond. 



Ages 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


18 


19 


Boys — white 






















Touches Av. 




39.7 


48.6 


48.2 


45.5 


57.2 


63.3 


, , 


, , 


, , 


A.D. 




20.2 


19.6 


27.8 


26.1 


19.5 


25.0 


, , 


, , 


, , 


Distance Av. 


^ , 


94.4 


103.2 


99.7 


99.4 


113.8 


123.0 


, , 


. . 


, , 


A.D. 




20.2 


23.8 


27.3 


22.6 


20.6 


22.6 


, , 


. . 


, , 


Boys— Col. 






















Touches Av. 




34.4 


35.5 


31.6 


33.7 


28.1 


14.5 


30.0 


43.8 


16.7 


A.D. 




14.8 


23.0 


19.7 


21.8 


22.5 


7.7 


24.2 


31.5 


11.7 


Distance Av. 




88.6 


90.1 


84.4 


93.8 


83.0 


83.2 


91.1 


104.5 


76.0 


A.D. 




12.6 


23.9 


22.6 


28.0 


20.2 


9.0 


23.0 


21.5 


30.0 


Girls — ^white 






















Touches Av. 


^ , 


54.0 


60.0 


41.0 


44.3 


59.6 


, , 


, , 


, , 


, . 


A.D. 




16.3 


22.6 


18.0 


26.4 


13.3 


, , 


, , 


, , 


, , 


Distance Av. 




113.7 


117.0 


110.8 


103.8 


119.3 


^ , 


, , 


, ^ 


, , 


A.D. 




13.0 


22.0 


20.4 


25.3 


13.7 


^ ^ 




, , 


^ , 


Girls— Col. 






















Touches Av. 


34.6 


21.0 


27.2 


28.9 


35.8 


39.0 


35.0 


21.5 


19.2 


16.6 


A.D. 


16.0 


15.2 


15.9 


19.4 


22.7 


25.4 


25.3 


16.7 


10.5 


10.0 


Distance Av. 


93.6 


80.1 


84.8 


86.2 


97.3 


101.4 


99.0 


89.9 


86.0 


70.6 


A.D. 


6.0 


27.1 


23.7 


22.9 


24.3 


17.5 


25.5 


18.9 


17.5 


20.6 








Fredericksburg 












Boys — white 






















Touches Av. 








, , 


32.4 


30.7 


17.0 


25.3 


38.5 


^ ^ 


A.D. 










21.0 


7.2 


9.0 


15.3 


8.3 


, ^ 


Distance Av. 




, , 


, . 


, , 


111.2 


112.7 


88.6 107.0 


111.0 


, , 


A.D. 




, ^ 


, , 


, , 


19.1 


20.2 


12.6 


23.6 


9.3 


^ ^ 


Boys — Col. 






















Touches Av. 






26.6 


22.5 


^ ^ 


36.6 


41.0 


^ , 


14.0 


34.0 


A.D. 


^ ^ 


, , 


12.6 


19.5 


, , 


6.6 


36.8 


, , 


6.0 


24.5 


Distance Av. 


^ ^ 


, , 


76.3 


70.0 


, , 


95.0 


80.8 


, . 


69.5 


97.5 


A.D. 




^ ^ 


13.6 


26.0 


, , 


14.6 


34.0 


^ , 


2.5 


32.5 


Girls — white 






















Touches Av. 






^ ^ 


^ ^ 


13.6 


24.2 


11.0 


17.6 


8.0 


^ ^ 


A.D. 


, . 


. , 


, . 




4.6 


15.2 


8.0 


9.4 


4.0 





COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 



67 



Ages 10 


11 12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


18 


19 


Distance Av. 






84.6 
7.3 


94.0 
13.5 


85.0 
20.3 


97.4 
5.6 


68.0 
1.0 




A.D. 






][ 


Girls— Col. 


















Touches Av. 


. . 


13.0 


11.3 


6.3 


25.5 


10.3 


22.0 


54.5 


A.D. 


. . 


9.5 


6.7 


4.3 


6.5 


7.7 


10.0 


44.5 


Distance Av. 


. . 


68.7 


58.5 


58.6 


76.0 


65.8 


84.0 


99.5 


A.D. 


. . 


21.2 


14.3 


14.0 


3.0 


8.8 





40.0 




Newport News. 












Boys— Col. 


















Touches Av. 


.. 5.0 




9.5 


, , 




, , 


, , 


^ , 


A.D. 


.. 3.0 




3.0 






^ , 


^ , 


^ , 


Distance Av. 


. . 56.5 




63.5 






^ ^ 


^ ^ 


, ^ 


A.D. 


.. 7.5 




11.0 






^ , 


^ , 


^ , 


Girls— Col. 


















Touches Av. 


. . 17.4 


10.6 


7.0 


6.0 


10.3 


, , 


, , 


, , 


A.D. 


. . 20.7 


6.6 


7.2 


4.0 


5.0 




- . 




Distance Av. 


. . 72.2 


54.0 


59.2 


59.3 


61.6 


. , 


, , 


, , 


A.D. 


. . 23.7 


16.0 


15.8 


6.3 


14.0 


•• 


•• 


•• 




TABLE 


XX. 













Maze Test — Scores by Grades 
Richmond. 



Grades 


5A 


5B 


6A 6B 7A 7B 


lA 


2A 


2B 


3A 


4A 


White 


















Touches Av. 


53.6 


46.9 


41.7 38.6 40.2 61.1 












A.D. 


22.5 


23.4 


23.1 22.0 24.8 17.7 












Distance Av. 


106.5 106.6 


95.5 97.0 103.0 123.7 












A.D. 


21.3 


24.0 


25.3 23.2 22.9 13.7 












Colored 


















Touches Av. 


38.3 


26.0 


21.7 18.6 46.1 46.7 


31. 2i 


34.3 


33.9 


20.5 


16.8 


A.D. 


20.6 


18.3 


13.4 14.7 15.9 26.9 


21.3 


24.2 


23.7 


15.2 


9.0 


Distance Av. 


100.4 


85.3 


70.7 69.5 111.7 103.3 


94.6 


98.7 101.0 


84.2 


81.8 


A.D. 


23.1 


21.7 


14.5 20.2 15.2 24.5 
Fredericksburg. 


19.3 


18.0 


25.0 


17.9 


20.0 


White 


















Touches Av. 


, , 


, , 


26.1 .. 24.6 .. 


31.6 


13.5 




19.9 


25.8 


A.D. 


, , 


, , 


16.5 .. 15.7 .. 


17.7 


8.4 




11.0 


15.3 


Distance Av. 


, , 




94.2 .. 92.2 .. 


104.6 


87.3 




97.9 102.7 


A.D. 




, , 


24.4 .. 20.4 .. 


22.3 


13.0 




16.7 


17.8 


Colored 


















Touches Av. 






19.2 .. 16.5 .. 


10.5 


21.8 




24.5 


31.7 


A.D. 






15.4 .. 11.1 


5.7 


16.2 




14.5 


25.7 


Distance Av. 






67.1 .. 72.1 


61.2 


83.0 




78.3 


90.7 


A.D. 






18.8 .. 20.4 .. 
Newport News. 


14.2 


16.0 




14.8 


28.0 


Colored 


















Touches Av. 


, , 




13.1 .. 6.8 .. 


, , 


^ ^ 








A.D. 






11.5 .. 5.0 .. 












Distance Av. 


, , 




67.5 .. 55.6 .. 


, ^ 




. ' 


* ] 




A.D. 




« , 


16.6 .. 13.4 .. 






, . 


, , 


. , 



It is not apparent that there is any general increase or 
decrease in either the distance covered or the number of 
touches, or in the ratio between the two, as the age of the 
pupils advances. The difference in ages, indeed, may fairly be 
disregarded. 



68 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 




Fig. 10. Maze Test — Scores of White and Colored Boys — Richmond.* 
*The total height of the columns indicates the score for distance; 
the height of the cross-lines indicates the score for touches. 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 



69 




Fig. 11. Maze Test — Scores of White and Colored Girls — Richmond. 



70 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 



SCO HE 

• 110 





GRADE 

Fig. 12. Maze Test — Score of White and Colored Grades — Richmond. 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 71 

When we attempt to decide which race was superior in this 
test we encounter the difficulty in evaluating speed and ac- 
curacy that was discussed in the preceding chapter. Tables 
21-25 give the detailed comparisons for both speed and accu- 
racy — distance and touches. The Fredericksburg compari- 
sons, on the whole, are fairly sure, although the probable 
errors are large. The tables show that in Fredericksburg the 
colored subjects exceeded the white subjects in number of 
touches made, but were inferior to them in distance covered, 
and that this was true for both sexes and for the grades. The 
negroes attained less speed and were at the same time more 
inaccurate. Consequently they were inferior to the whites. 

But in Richmond a conclusion cannot be drawn so readily. 
Here the colored subjects were slower, as in Fredericksburg, 
but, unlike those in Fredericksburg, they were also more accu- 
rate than the whites. The colored boys covered 86.6 per cent, of 
the distance covered by the white boys and made 69.6 per cent, 
as many touches. The colored girls scored 79.8 per cent, of 
the distance of the white girls and 60.2 per cent, as many 
touches as the white girls. The scores for the grades show 
that the colored pupils scored for distance and touches, re- 
spectively, 85.2 per cent, and 70.0 per cent, as high as did the 
white pupils. These figures are fairly uniform for the differ- 
ent classifications of the subjects, and their probable errors 
are sufficiently small for reliability. If we average the per- 
centages given for boys, girls and grades, we find that the 
negroes covered 84 per cent, as great distance as the whites 
and made 67 per cent, as many errors. 

TABLE XXI. 
Maze Test — Difference Between Scores of White and Col- 
ored Subjects Classified by Age and Sex 

(Minus signs indicate greater scores by the colored subects.) 

Richmond. 



Ages 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


18 


Av. 


P.E. 


Boys 






















Touches 


5.3 


13.1 


16.6 


11.8 


29.1 


, ^ 






15.2 


2.3 


Distance 


5.8 


13.1 


15.3 


5.6 


30.8 


, , 






14.1 


2.7 


Girls 






















Touches 


33.0 


32.8 


12.1 


8.5 


20.6 








21.4 


3.5 


Distance 


33.6 


32.2 


24.6 


6.5 


17.9 




. , 




23.0 


3.3 








Fredericksburg 












Boys 






















Touches 


, , 








—5.9- 


-24.0 




24.5 


—1.8 


8.6 


Distance 


, , 








17.7 


7.8 




41.5 


22.3 


6.3 


Girls 






















Touches 


^ , 






2.3 


17.9 — 


-14.5 


7.3- 


-14.0 


—.2 


4.3 


Distance 








26.1 


35.4 


9.0 


31.6- 


-16.0 


17.2 


6.3 



72 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 



TABLE XXII. 

Maze Test — Difference Between Scores of White and Ck>L08ED 
Subjects Classified by Grades 

(Minus signs indicate greater scores by the colored subjects.) 

Richmond. 

Grades 5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 3A 4A Av. P.E 

Touches 15.3 20.9 20.0 20.0 —5.9 14.4 14.1 2.3 

Distance 6.1 21.3 24.8 27.5 ^8.7 20.4 15.2 3.8 

Fredericksburg. 

Touches .. ..6.9 .. 8.1 .. 21.1—8.3—4.6—5.9 2.9 3.2 

Distance . . . . 27.1 . . 20.1 . . 43.4 4.3 19.6 12.0 21.1 3.3 



TABLE XXIII. 

Maze Test — Percentage of the Score of the White Obtained by 
the Colored Subjects, Classified by Age and Sex 



Ages 

Boys 

Touches 

Distance 

Girls 

Touches 

Distance 

Boys 

Touches 

Distance 

Girls 

Touches 

Distance 



11 12 

87 73 
94 87 



Richmond. 

13 14 15 



65 
85 



74 
94 



49 
73 



39 45 70 81 66 

70 72 78 94 85 

Fredericksburg. 



16 17 18 Av. P.E. 



69.6 3.8 
86.6 2.2 



119 241 

84 91 



60.2 5.7 
79.8 2.9 



36 132.0 36.1 
63 79.3 5.4 



84 25 232 59 275 135.0 36.2 
89 62 89 67 124 86.2 6.4 



TABLE XXIV. 

Maze Test — Percentage of the Score of the White Obtained by 
the Colored Subjects, Classified by Grades 

Richmond. 

5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 3A 4A Av. P.E. 



Grades 

Touches 
Distance 



Touches 
Distance 



70.0 



6.3 
3.5 



72 56 52 49 115 76 

94 80 74 72 108 83 85.2 

Fredericksburg. 

. . . . 73 . . 68 . . 34 164 123 123 97.5 13.5 

.. .. 71 .. 78 .. 59 95 80 88 78.5 3.2 



TABLE XXV. 

Maze Test — Percentage of Colored Subjects Reaching or Exceed- 
ing the Average of the White, by Age and Sex and 
by Grades 









Richmond. 








Ages 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


Av. 


P.E. 


Boys 
















Touches 


40 


20 


22 


29 


14 


25.0 


2.9 


Distance 


40 


30 


39 


35 


14 


31.6 


2.9 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 73 



Ages 
Girls 
Touches 
Distance 


11 


25 


12 

10 
20 


13 

35 
29 


14 

30 
41 


15 

22 
19 


•• 


Av. 

19.4 
26.8 


P.E. 

4.5 
2.5 


Grades 


5A 


5B 


6A 


6B 


7A 


7B 






Touches 
Distance 


26 
41 


19 
22 


14 
11 


14 
14 


68 

68 


35 
35 


29.3 
31.8 


5.2 
6.6 



The percentages of colored subjects reaching or exceeding 
the average of the white sho[vv' the same relative standing for the 
two races in touches and distance traversed as is evident from 
the preceding figures. These percentages are as follows: Boys — 
Touches, 25.0, Distance, 31.6; Girls — Touches, 19.4, Distance, 
26.8; Grades — Touches, 29.3, Distance, 31.8. If we average 
the percentages for boys, girls and grades, as before, we find 
that 25 per cent, of the negroes reached the average of the 
whites in touches, and that 30 per cent, of them reached the 
average of the whites in distance. 

Do these facts indicate that the colored subjects were 
superior, inferior or equal to the white? A reference to the 
graphs will make it evident that a large score for distance 
implies a relatively higher score for touches than does a small 
score for distance. The ratio of touches to distance becomes 
greater as distance increases. And this change in the ratio 
takes place with marked constancy throughout the graphs. 
It is normal for the smaller of two scores for distance to have 
a relatively smaller score for errors. The question to be set- 
tled in this comparison is whether a distance 84 per cent, 
as great as another distance normally implies 67 per cent, 
as many touches for the former distance as for the latter. 
If so, it is apparent that there is no diflference between the 
ability of the white and the colored subjects in this test. And 
the following considerations indicate that such is the case. 

Since the score of the negroes for distance is 84 per cent, 
of that of the whites, 100 may be taken to represent the actual 
distance score of the whites and 84 to represent the actual 
distance score of the negroes. Now a reference to the graphs 
shows that colored grades 5A and 7B, and colored girls aged 
14 and 15, scored approximately 100 for distance. And the 
average number of touches made by these four groups of col- 
ored pupils was 40, the variation being slight. A further ref- 
erence to the graphs shows that colored grade 5B, colored 
girls aged 11, 12 and 13, and colored boys aged 11, 13 and 15, 



74 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

scored approximately 84 for distance. And the average num- 
ber of touches made by these seven groups of colored pupils 
was 28, the variation again being slight. Here we have two 
sets of colored pupils scoring 100 and 84, respectively, for dis- 
tance, and 40 and 28 for errors. Twenty-eight is 70 per cent, 
of 40, and 84 is 84 per cent, of 100. Thus we have the slower 
set of colored pupils attaining 84 per cent, as great distance 
as the faster set, and making 70 per cent, as many errors. 
But these are approximately the figures which represent the 
difference between the whites and the negroes. So it seems 
that we can confidently conclude that there is no racial differ- 
ence in ability revealed by the maze test. Wherever the ne- 
groes work as rapidly as the whites, they make approximately 
the same number of errors. 

The graphs show no records of white subjects with as small 
scores as 84 for distance, and we therefore cannot ascertain 
the actual number of errors made by whites who worked as 
slowly as the assumed average of the negroes. But there is 
no reason for believing there would have been any appreciable 
racial difference if slow white records had occurred. When 
we compare the white groups who attained a distance of 100, 
the assumed average of the whites, with the colored groups 
who worked rapidly enough to attain this distance, we find the 
number of errors made by the two groups to be about the 
same. White grades 6A, 6B and 7A, white girls aged 14, and 
white boys aged 12, 13 and 14, scored approximately 100 for 
distance. And the average number of errors of these seven 
groups, the variation being small, was 44. In the preceding 
paragraph it was pointed out that the four colored groups 
who worked at this speed scored an average of 40 errors. The 
difference between the two sets of pupils, white and colored, 
is thus inconsiderable. 

Finally, the reader may be referred to the white and col- 
ored columns in the graphs themselves. An inspection shows 
that wherever the column for the whites approaches that for 
the negroes in total height, representing distance, the cross- 
lines on the two columns, representing errors, correspondingly 
approach equality. And within the colored columns them- 
selves, as within the white columns, greater total height means 
not only an absolutely but a relatively greater height for the 
cross-lines. 

On the whole, while the whites were superior to the negroes 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 



75 



in Fredericksburg in the motor ability tested, they were not 
superior in Richmond. Greater weight shguld be attached to 
the Richmond results on account of the larger number of sub- 
jects tested there. 

1 

Cancellation Test 

The records for the cancellation test are set forth in Ta- 
bles 26 and 27, and in Figures 13-15. A fairly regular in- 
crease in the scores with age may be noted. 



TABLE XXVI. 
Cancellation Test — Scores by Age and Sex 



Ages 

Boys — white 

Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 
Boys— Col. 
Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 
Girls — white 
Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 
Girls— Col. 
Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 



Boys — white 
Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 
Boys— Col. 
Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 
Girls — ^white 
Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 
Girls— Col. 
Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 



10 



Richmond. 

11 12 13 14 



15 16 17 18 19 



1.0 3.2 2.8 3.2 1.6 2.0 

1.0 2.2 2.4 2.3 1.1 .6 

50.3 62.7 57.7 59.1 62.7 65.3 

6.8 11.1 12.3 8.1 8.2 3.0 



4.5 


1.7 


2.0 


2.6 


5.1 


2.5 


2.0 


2.0 


4.5 


5.5 


1.8 


1.8 


2.6 


4.0 


1.5 


2.0 


1.0 


1.5 


43.6 


58.6 


52.6 


66.2 


68.6 


74.4 


69.8 


93.8 


93.7 


11.6 


8.6 


7.1 


8.1 


12.8 


13.7 


6.4 


4.5 


2.2 



.8 2.5 1.8 2.9 3.5 

.8 2.2 1.6 1.9 1.0 

53.0 61.4 63.0 71.2 64.5 

7.5 8.8 7.4 14.7 7.5 



2.0 1.6 

2.0 1.7 

60.3 59.4 

2.3 11.3 



3.3 

2.3 

65.3 

11.4 



3.0 

2.6 

69.7 

9.9 



2.7 

1.8 

74.4 

13.1 



Fredericksburg. 



1.3 

1.0 

53.3 

5.0 



3.6 

2.4 

63.9 

11.4 



1.5 3.1 

1.5 l.S 
45.0 54.7 

3.0 6.7 

3.3 1.0 

1.6 0. 
58.6 55.5 

4.6 2.5 



1.5 1.5 2.2 

1.1 1.1 2.0 

56.3 61.0 67.7 

8.0 10.3 13.2 



3.4 

2.9 

81.2 

13.0 



3.7 

3.8 

66.8 

10.2 



2.9 

2.6 

84.9 

11.2 



1.8 

1.4 

89.8 

8.9 



3.4 
2.1 

87.0 
8.8 



0. 
0. 

87.6 
10.6 



2.3 2.0 2.3 

2.3 2.0 1.6 

72.1 72.8 78.3 

17.0 16.5 7.0 



9.6 2.2 

8.0 1.0 

70.6 76.2 

17.3 13.4 



1.5 5.5 

1.5 4.5 

90.0 81.2 

5.0 2.7 



3.3 

3.0 

73.3 

6.3 



1.8 1.0 4.0 

1.5 .8 4.0 

72.0 75.2 74.5 

13.0 12.6 4.5 



1.6 2.0 .6 

.6 1.8 .6 

68.8 63.9 66.0 

10.6 10.3 7.3 



5.5 

.5 

94.5 

.5 



3.2 2.0 2.5 

2.0 0. 1.5 

84.7 81.5 70.5 

9.7 16.5 25.5 



76 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 



Ages 

Boys — ^white 

Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 
Boys— Col. 
Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 
Girls — ^white 
Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 
Girls— Col. 
Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 



10 



Newport News. 
11 12 13 14 



15 16 17 18 19 



.3 


1.5 


1.5 


1.6 


4.0 


.3 


.9 


1.6 


1.1 


3.0 


67.0 


53.4 


59.8 


63.1 


56.7 


6.0 


8.0 

0. 

0. 

49.0 

0. 


8.7 


8.1 

2.2 

1.2 

69.5 

7.0 


20.2 



.4 2.6 2.4 2.8 3.7 2.0 

.4 2.6 2.4 2.1 2.7 2.0 

52.4 60.7 57.4 71.0 63.0 72.5 

6.0 9.8 11.3 11.7 9.5 15.5 



3.7 


1.4 


1.6 


1.6 


9.0 


3.0 


.8 


1.5 


1.3 


6.6 


63.4 


57.4 


62.6 


56.3 


80.3 


13.5 


6.8 


7.3 


7.0 


8.3 



TABLE XXVII. 
Cancellation Test — Scores by Grades 



Grades 
White 
Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 
Colored 
Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 



White 
Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 
Colored 
Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 



White 
Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 
Colored 
Omissions Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations Av. 

A.D. 



Richmond. 

5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 2B 3A 4A 

2.6 3.0 1.5 1.7 2.5 2.1 

1.8 2.9 1.1 1.5 2.1 1.4 

61.6 55.2 54.4 65.5 62.8 66.8 

9.9 7.4 11.0 12.6 8.2 10.0 

4.0 3.4 1.4 2.8 3.7 5.5 2.9 2.2 2.6 2.4 2.1 

3.5 3.3 1.3 2.4 2.8 4.5 2.3 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.7 

60.2 58.3 63.1 65.6 81.6 74.5 77.4 82.4 89.1 86.4 87.1 

10.9 9.5 9.0 8.6 11.2 11.2 12.7 14.0 8.7 9.1 10.0 



Fredericksburg. 






. 2.3 

. 2.2 

. 53.0 

6.5 


.. 3.3 

.. 2.8 
.. 62.3 
.. 9.9 


. . 2.0 1.9 
. . 1.8 1.2 
. . 67.0 74.9 
.. 7.8 9.9 


. . 2.6 2.3 
. . 2.0 2.0 
. . 72.1 74.9 
. . 14.7 13.8 


3.0 
2.9 

57.7 
6.5 

Newpor 


.. 1.7 
.. 1.0 

.. 79.5 
.. 7.7 

t News. 


. . 2.1 4.3 
. . 1.1 2.5 
. . 76.4 88.3 
.. 15.3 8.5 


.. 3.3 2.2 
. . 1.8 2.0 
. . 82.0 78.1 
. . 9.5 12.5 



2.0 
. 2.0 

58.5 
9.4 



2.2 2.5 1.5 

2.1 2.5 1.2 

58.4 62.7 63.1 

11.3 9.0 13.0 

. . 4.6 . . 

. . 3.4 . . 

.. 70.0 .. 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 



77 




Fig. 13. Cancellation Test — Scores of White and Colored Boys — 
Richmond.* 

*The total height of the columns indicates the score for cancellations; 
the height of the cross-lines indicates the score for omissions. 



A reference to the graphs will show that there is no con- 
stant relation between the omissions and the cancellations, 
and that in all cases the omissions were very few. Only a 
small number of pupils, less than one-half, made any omissions 
at all. This accounts for the large deviations of the scores 
for omissions as shown in the tables mentioned, and for the 
very erratic behavior of these scores in the tables of ccompari- 
son. Tables 28-32. On the whole, the negroes seem to have made 



78 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 




Fig. 14. Cancellation Test — Scores of White and Colored Girls — 
Richmond. 



slightly more omissions than the whites, but the size of the 
probable errors indicates that this may have been a chance 
occurence. Certainly the negro girls, who, as will appear, 
are definitely superior to the white girls in cancellations, do 
not show as great excess in omissions as do the negro boys, 
and the negro boys are not superior to the white boys in can- 
cellations at all. The omissions, therefore, will be disregarded 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 



79 



SCORE 
70 




Fig. 15. 
Richmond. 



Cancellation Test — Scores of White and Colored Grades — 



in the following comparisons. It may be mentioned that the 
peculiarity noted above in the performance of the maze test 
by the two races, wherein the negroes made uniformly smaller 
scores and thus seemed to be more careful than the whites, 
does not occur in the test for cancellation. 

Another matter that may be remarked is that the large 
deviations of the scores for omission is in decided contrast 
with the small deviations of the cancellation scores, when the 
two sets of deviations are compared with the relative size of 
the scores themselves. That is, the so-called coefficients of 
variation are larger for omissions than for cancellations. A 
similar situation appeared in the maze test. Here the devia- 



80 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 



tions of the scores for touches were as large as those of the 
scores for distance, while the former scores were not over 
one-third as large as the latter. Now both omissions and 
touches are measures of accuracy and both cancellations and 
distance are measures of speed; the two tests measure the 
same phenomena, one in the field of movement and the other 
in the field of perception and reaction. And in both tests there 
is greater uniformity in speed of performance than in accuracy. 

TABLE XXVIII. 

Cancellation Test — Difference Between Scores op White and 
Colored Subjects Classified by Age and Sex 

(Minus signs indicate greater scores by the colored subjects.) 

Richmond. 
Ages 11 12 

Boys 

Omissions — 3.5 1.5 
Can'l't'ns 6.7 4.1 
Girls 
Omissions — .8 — .8 



13 14 15 


16 


17 


18 


Av. P.E. 


.8 .6 — 3.5 
5.1 — 7.1 — 5.9 


•• 


•• 




- .8 .8 
.6 2.2 


— 1.2 .2 .1 

— 6.7 — 3.2 —16.7 


•• 


•• 




- .5 .2 

— 7.4 1.4 


Fredericksburg. 










2.1 . . — 5.9 

— .8 . . — 3.8 - 

— .1 .2 2.7- 

— 7.8 3.8 7.3- 


.1 

- 4.1 

- 3.7 — 
-22.5 — 


2.2 
9.5- 


.8. 
-11.7 - 

2.0- 
- 7.0- 


— .7 1.0 

- 5.1 1.4 

- .2 .6 

— 5.9 2.7 


Newport News. 










. . — .6 
. . — 6.4 


•• 


, , 


, . - 


.4 .6 
- 1.0 3.2 


1.0 1.2 2.1 
0. 8.4 6.7 


•• 


•• 


•• 


.8 .4 
3.1 1.8 



Boys 

Omissions 

Can'l't'ns 

Girls 

Omissions 

Can'l't'ns 

Boys 

Omissions . . 1.5 

Canlt'ns . . 4.4 

Girls 

Omissions . . — 1.1 

Can'l't'ns . . — 2.7 

TABLE XXIX. 

Cancellation Test — Difference Between Scores of White and 

Colored Subjects Classified by Grades 

(Minus signs indicate greater scores by the colored subjects.) 

Richmond. 



Grades 
5A 5B 
Omissions 

—1.4 — .4 
Cancellations 
1.4 —3.1 - 

Omissions 



6A 6B 

.1 —1.1 

-8.7 — .1 



7A 
- 1.2 



7B 

-3.4 



lA 2A 



3A 



-18.8 —7.7 

Fredericksburg. 



Cancellations 

.. —4.7 

Omissions 
Cancellations 



1.6 



— .1 — 2.4 



4A Av.f P.E 
.. —1.2 .3 
.. —6.2 2.0 

.1 — .4 .3 



-17.2 . . —9.4 - 
Newport News. 



— 2.1 

— 7.3 



-13.4 —9.9 —3.2 —9.6 1.4 

—2.1 

—7.3 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 



81 



TABLE XXX. 

Cancellation Test — Percentage of the Score of the White Ob- 
tained BY THE Colored Subjects, Classified by Age and Sex 

Richmond. 

Ages 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Av. PJl. 

Boys 

Omissions 450 53 71 81 319 194.8 57.2 

Cancellations 87 93 91 112 109 98.4 3.6 

CtItIs 

Omissions 200 132 167 93 97 137.8 14.1 

Cancellations 112 106 111 105 126 112.0 2.1 

Fredericksburg. 
Boys 

Omissions .. .. 32 ..259 96 .. 65 113.0 30.1 

Cancellations .. ..102 ..106 106 .. 115 107.2 1.5 

Girls 

Omissions .. ..107 91 18 305 320 50 148.5 38.1 

Cancellations .. ..113 94 90 131 113 109 108.3 3.8 

Newport News. 
Boys 

Omissions .. ..137 68.5 4«.i.7 

Cancellations .. 92 ..110 101.0 5.4 

Omissions ..141 58 57 43 74.7 13.8 

Cancellations .. 104 100 88 89 95.2 2.8 



TABLE XXXI. 

Cancellation Test — Percentage of the Score of the White Ob- 
tained BY THE Colored Subjects, Classified by Grades 

Richmond. 

5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 3A 4A Av. P.E. 



Grades 

Omissions 
Cancellations 



Omissions 
Cancellations 

Omissions 
Cancellations 



154 113 93 165 148 262 
98 106 116 100 130 111 

Fredericksburg. 
.. ..130 .. 52 .. 
.. ..109 ..128 .. 

Newport News. 
184 .. 



155.8 13.2 

110.2 3.0 

105 226 127 96 122.7 13.2 

114 118 114 104 114.5 1.9 

184.0 .. 



112 112.0 



TABLE XXXIL 

Cancellation Test — Percentage of Colored Subjects Reaching or 
Exceeding the Average of the White , by Age and Sex and 

BY Grades 



Ages 

Boys 

Cancellations 

Girls 

Cancellations 

Grades 

Cancellations 





Richmomj 


. 










11 


12 


13 


14 


15 




Av. 


P.E. 


33 


31 


37 


78 


60 




47.8 


6.4 


67 


59 


74 


60 


81 




68.2 


2.8 


5A 


5B 


6A 


6B 


7A 


7B 






49 


63 


80 


55 


89 


67 


67.2 


3.8 



82 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

In explanation of this it may be suggested that individuals 
differ in their attitude toward the tests as well as in their 
ability to perform them. Of course those who emphasize 
speed will neglect accuracy and those who emphasize accuracy 
will neglect speed. These matters will normally adjust them- 
selves among a large number of subjects, and the final scores 
for accuracy and speed will not be affected. But with refer- 
ence to approximating the average score it may be that speed 
of reaction will more readily take care of itself than will 
accuracy in a normal performance of a test. At the start, 
subjects are set to attempt a performance that will be in 
large measure speedy, and at least a reasonable degree of 
speed is put forth by all. Accuracy, however, requires more 
constant care on the part of the performer ; neglect of accuracy 
is not so apparent to him while he is reacting — he may not 
notice the omitted letter or the touch. It is more difficult to 
gauge and to control accuracy than speed. And so, unless 
there is a very careful adjustment of attitude toward accuracy 
by all subjects, it will vary considerably, while speed will vary 
to a less degree. Consequently a greater deviation for accuracy 
than for speed is to be expected in tests involving both factors. 

The tables which make the comparisons between whites 
and negroes in cancellation show the following facts : In Rich- 
mond, the colored boys obtained 98.4 per cent, of the score of 
the white boys. The colored girls obtained 112.0 per cent, of 
the score of the white girls. And when classified by grades — 
the grades contain a larger proportion of girls than of boys — 
the colored pupils obtained 110.2 per cent, of the score of the 
white pupils. This inferiority of colored to white boys may 
be disregarded, since it falls within the range of the probable 
error. It may be said that the boys of the two races did about 
equally well. But the colored girls and the colored grades are 
clearly superior to the white girls and grades, the probable 
errors in these cases being sufficiently small for reliability. 

In Fredericksburg, the colored boys, girls and grades are 
all definitely superior to the white. In Newport News, a very 
slight superiority is shown by the colored boys, but this may 
be discounted as was the inferiority of the colored boys in 
Richmond. The colored girls seem to be inferior here, but 
this is not well established when considered in connection with 
the probable error. The grade comparison is considerably 



COMPARISON OF WHITES AND NEGROES. 83 

in favor of the colored pupils, but it is based upon figures 
from only one grade of each race. 

The percentages of colored subjects reaching or exceeding 
the average of the white, in Richmond, are as follows: Boys, 
47.8; Girls, 68.2; Grades, 67.2. As in the former comparison 
for Richmond, the size of the probable errors renders it un- 
safe to say there was any real difference between the boys 
of the two races; but the colored girls and grades are un- 
doubtedly superior. 

Taken all together, the figures show that the colored girls 
are superior to the white girls in the traits measured by this 
test, and that the colored boys are not appreciably inferior to 
the white boys. This sex difference between the races is in- 
teresting, but no satisfactory explanation of it suggests itself. 
It is confirmed by Pyle ('15), in the study previously men- 
tioned. From the figures which he gives it may be calculated 
that in the "A Test" — the cancellation test used here — the col- 
ored boys tested by him obtained 98.4 per cent, of the score 
of the white boys and the colored girls obtained 108.2 per cent, 
of the score of the white girls. These are almost identical 
with the figures found herein. 

In this connection it may be said that no other constant or 
reliable racial sex difference in ability is indicated by this 
study. The scores of the boys of both races were generally, 
though not always, slightly lower than the scores of the 
girls, as is usually the case in psychological tests. And on the 
whole there is a slightly smaller difference between the white 
and negro girls than between the white and negro boys, but 
this is not at all invariably true. Pyle states, as quoted in 
Chapter I, that in the tests which he employed the girls of the 
two races stood nearer together than did the boys. 



CHAPTER IV 
COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES 

The terms negro and colored have been used interchange- 
ably in this study, (except in the tables and the graphs), and 
they are generally so used. But it is obvious that such usage 
is justified only by convenience and not by fact. The so-called 
negroes of the United States are negroes only in part ; in large 
measure they are people of mixed blood, and the intermixture 
has been almost entirely with the white race. There are all 
degrees of intermixture, ranging from almost pure negro 
to almost pure "white. "Mulatto" is the term generally em- 
ployed to describe persons of this mixed stock. But here 
again the usage is justified only by convenience, since a 
mulatto, strictly speaking, is the offspring of the union of a 
pure white and a pure negro. The terms quadroon, meaning 
the child of a mulatto and a white, and consequently three 
parts white and one part negro ; and octoroon, meaning a child 
of a white and a quadroon, seven parts white and one part 
negro, are fairly common. But there is no recognized term to 
describe the racial status of the offspring of a pure negro 
and a mulatto, who is three parts negro and one part white. 
"Sambo" has been suggested for this purpose, but the popular 
connotation of the word is not such as to convey the desired 
meaning. And there are no widely accepted terms to describe 
other degrees of race admixture. The need for them has not 
been felt. 

The relative number of pure negroes and persons of part 
negro blood in this country is not accurately known. The 
Federal Census has made an attempt to determine this, and 
its figures are the most reliable that we have. The negroes 
were classified as black and mulatto. But as stated in the 
census report ('10, p. 79) : "Considerable uncertainty neces- 
sarily attaches to this classification, however, since the ac- 

84 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 85 

curacy of the distinction made depends largely upon the judg- 
ment and care of the enumerators. Moreover, the fact that 
the definition of the term 'mulatto' adopted at different cen- 
suses has not been entirely uniform may affect the compara- 
bility of the figures in some degree. In 1870, as in 1910, 
however, the term was applied to all persons having any per- 
ceptible trace of negro blood, excepting, of course, negroes of 
pure blood." The census shows that in 1910, 79 per cent, of 
the negro population of the country was black and 21 per cent, 
mulatto— roughly speaking, there were about eight million 
blacks and two million mulattoes. In Virginia, the negro pop- 
ulation was 67 per cent, black and 33 per cent, mulatto. In 
Richmond, the percentages of blacks and mulattoes were 60 
and 40, respectively. 

The percentage of mulattoes is generally higher in the 
cities than in the rural districts. In Virginia, the five cities 
with a population of 25,000 or over have an average of 43 per 
cent, of mulattoes in their negro populations. This figure, 
when compared with the mulatto population of the state, is 
fairly typical of the larger proportion of mulattoes in the 
cities of the country at large. 

The percentage of mulattoes is also in general considerably 
higher in the North than in the South. The states with the 
largest negro populations have the largest percentage of pure 
negroes, though there are exceptions to this relation. South 
Carolina, Alabama and Georgia, for example, have negro 
populations of 55.2, 42.5 and 45.1 per cent., respectively. And 
the percentages of mulattoes among the negroes of these states 
are 16.1, 16.7 and 17.3, respectively. In Illinois, Pennsylvania 
and Massachusetts, the negroes are 1.9, 2.5 and 1.1 per cent, of 
the total populations. And in these states the percentages of 
mulattoes are 33.8, 19.2 and 36.7. States with negro popula- 
tions intermediate between the two groups mentioned are 
Kentucky, Tennessee and Maryland, which have in their re- 
spective populations 11.4, 21.7 and 17.9 per cent, of negroes. 
And here the percentages of mulattoes are respectively 25.2, 
25.1 and 18.6. On the whole, there are larger percentages 
of mulattoes among the negroes in states with small negro 
populations, and there are larger percentages in the cities 
than in the country districts. 

What these facts indicate it is difficult to say. They may 
mean that mulattoes are more attracted than are pure negroes 



86 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

by the reputed advantages held out to colored people in 
the North, and by the reputed opportunities of city life. If 
so, it would seem that mulattoes have greater capacity for 
perceiving opportunity and greater ambition to take advantage 
of it. Or color distinctions among the negroes themselves 
may influence those of lighter skin to seek to relieve the cir- 
cumpressure of the bulk of their race by Northern and urban 
migration. Or the non-agricultural industries in which ne- 
groes are engaged in the North and in the cities may possibly 
select mulattoes in preference to blacks, either because of 
their lighter color or because of their greater ability, or for 
both reasons. Or it may be that there is greater race inter- 
mixture in the North and in the cities than in the rural dis- 
tricts and the South. All four of these factors may operate. 
The census shows that there has been taking place a migra- 
tion of negroes from the country to the city, and from the 
South to the North — ^particularly to the cities of the North. 
And it is in these centers of migration that the proportion of 
mulattoes is highest. Several observers, (see Stone ,'08, p. 
401, ff.), have reported the apparent growth of a class dis- 
tinction between mulattoes and pure blacks, tending to sep- 
arate them, especially in the cities. The occupations in which 
negroes are employed in the cities and in the North have 
increased and become more standardized in recent years, and 
intelligence and light color are both probably more in demand 
in such occupations than in the more simple and isolated labor 
of rural life. And the life of the so-called underworld of cities, 
and the fact that inter-racial marriages are permitted in the 
North, would probably tend to increase the percentage of 
mulattoes in these places. So while the causes of the distri- 
bution of mulattoes cannot be definitely stated, it would seem 
that those mentioned above may reasonably be included among 
them. 

It is further worthy of note, that according to the census 
figures the relative number of mulattoes is increasing. The 
years in which they were separately classified were 1850, 1860, 
1870, 1890 and 1910. And the percentages of mulattoes in the 
country at large were as follows in those years: 11.2, 13.2, 
12.0, 15.2 and 20.9. But this does not mean, as is often sup- 
posed, that intermixture of whites and negroes has increas- 
ingly taken place in accordance with these percentages. The 
relative increase in the number of persons of mixed blood 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 87 

may have been due to marriage among colored people them- 
themselves, after a certain degree of racial admixture had oc- 
curred, without an increase, or even a continuance, of direct 
crossing between negroes and whites. For the mulattoes and 
the pure negroes marry each other, and this reduces the 
original percentage of pure negroes among the total offspring, 
and increases the percentage of persons of mixed blood. Of 
course, in the long run, unless there were a new infusion from 
white stock, the amount of white blood would become very 
small in any individual. But within the years covered by 
the census reports there would be enough traces of the white 
left to cause the individuals possessing them to be classified as 
having some white characteristics, and the basis of the census 
classification is the possession of any perceptible trace of 
white blood. This consideration renders the increase of racial 
intermixture as indicated by the census figures undoubtedly 
too high, even if the accuracy of the figures be granted. 

Views of Other Writers 

The presence of the mulatto element among the colored 
population has been taken into account by a number of writers 
who have dealt with the negro, although it has been neglected 
by a number of others. In Chapter I was quoted a statement 
from Strong ('13) to the effect that she divided the negroes 
tested by her into three classes on the basis of the color of 
their skin, and found that those of lightest color varied most 
from the normal, both above and below. Mayo ('13) was 
aware that the presence of mulattoes might have influenced 
the school records of the negroes in his study. Pyle ('15) 
suggested that the superior negroes in his groups might have 
had a greater proportion of white blood. And Bean ('06) 
recognized that the brains which he investigated were partly 
those of mulattoes. Statements from other writers may be 
given to indicate the attitude of those who have considered 
the matter from various standpoints. 

Boas, in concluding a discussion of the American negro 
problem, writes : "It appears .... that the most important 
practical questions relating to the negro problem have refer- 
ence to the mulattoes and other mixed bloods — to their physi- 
cal tjrpes, their mental and moral qualities, and their vitality. 
When the bulky literature of this subject is carefully sifted, 
little remains that will endure serious criticism; and I do 



88 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

not believe that I claim too much when I say that the whole 
work on this subject remains to be done. The development 
of modern methods of research makes it certain that by care- 
ful inquiry definite answers to our problems may be found. 
Is it not, then, our plain duty to inform ourselves, that, so far 
as that can be done, deliberate consideration of observations 
may take the place of heated discussion of beliefs in matters 
that concern not only uorselves, but also the welfare of 
millions of negroes?" (11, pp. 277-278). 

Stanley Hall says: "The chief event in the history of the 
Southern negro in the new world is the infiltration of white 
blood. But for this the negro in mind and body would be so 
distinct from us that all our problems connected with the race 
would be vastly simplified. Just how far he has lost his rare 
racial homogeneity here it is impossible to tell. The extreme 
minimal estimate that I have found is that one-tenth have 
some white blood, and one maximal estimate is that two- 
thirds are partly white. Page thinks that from one-ninth 
to one-sixth are mixed. DuBois says that two million negroes 
have some white blood. Most estimates range somewhere 

between one-fifth and one-half Moreover, the grade 

of pigmentation is not a sure index of the degree of miscege- 
nation, and in the veins of some thought purely African prob- 
ably flows at least a little of the best white blood of the land. 
.... Thus all the vast psychophysic differences between the 
two races are bridged, and they possibly fuse with each other 

by all imperceptible gradations At any rate, men like 

Fred Douglas, Bishop Payne, Booker Washington, Du Bois 
Chestnut, Tanner, Dunbar, Thomas and a score of others, are 
not typical negroes." ('05, pp. 360-361). 

In a discussion of the general status of the mulatto as 
compared with the pure negro, Jordan (*13) contends that 
the former is considerably superior to the latter. The pure 
negro is claimed to be capable of only the rudiments of civiliza- 
tion. His powers of attention and reflection are poor. He 
can draw general conclusions from particular cases only with 
diflficulty, he is imitative rather than creative, he lacks fore- 
sight, he has small power of profiting by observation, his 
character is mobile, and he is guided largely by the instinct 
of the moment. "The negro cannot undergo mental develop- 
ment beyond a certain definite maximum. The curious thing 
is that no attempt is made to establish this opinion on a 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 89 

scientific basis and to definitely determine the limit of mental 
development beyond which the law of diminishing returns 
dictates cessation of effort ; and furthermore that in flat con- 
tradiction to this common opinion education is planned in 
apparent utter disregard of it." ('13, pp. 578-579). But with 
the mulatto the case is different. "Where negro, mulatto / 
and white are jointly concerned the teachers are unequivocal 
in their opinion that mental alertness and the development of 
the higher psychical activities corresponds in degree quite 
uniformly with the amount of 'white' blood as judged by 
color of the skin." ('13, p. 577). It is true, argues Jordan, 
that many mulattoes are inferior, but this is because they 
come from inferior parents. The way to uplift the negro 
race is by the proper selection and breeding of mulattoes. 

A view very different from this is held by Le Bon. He 
writes: "Doubtless very different races, the black and the 
white for example, may fuse, but the half-breeds that result 
constitute a population very inferior to those of which it is 
sprung, and utterly incapable of creating or even of continu- 
ing, a civilization. The influence of contrary heredities saps 
their morality and character. When half-breeds, the off- 
spring of white men and negroes, have chanced to inherit a 
superior civilization, as in Saint Domingo, this civilization has 
speedily been overtaken by the most lamentable degenera- 
tion. Cross-breeding may be a source of improvement when 
it occurs between superior and sufficiently allied races, such 
as the English and the Germans in America, but it always 
constitutes an element of degeneration when the races, even 
though superior, are too different." ('98, pp. 52-53). Le Bon 
quotes Agassiz to the effect that Brazil is undergoing degen- 
eration on account of the large number of half-breeds in the 
population, cross-breeding being fatal to the best qualities of 
whites, blacks and Indians, the peoples concerned. It should 
be said that this view of Le Bon's is held by only a small 
minority of those who have discussed the question. 

Baker's opinion ('08) concerning the relative capacity of 
the mulatto and the pure negro does not seem to be very 
decided one way or the other. He points out that a number 
of leading negroes, as Washington, Du Bois, Douglass, Chest- 
nutt, Braithwaite, Tanner and Terrell are mulattoes. In- 
deed, "Most of the leading men of the race to-day in every 
line of activity are mulattoes." ('08, p. 173). But on the 



90 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

other hand, such negro leaders as Vernon, Miller, Dunbar, 
Price and Mason are probably pure-blooded. He claims that 
to be a mulatto is to be neither a negro nor a white, but is to 
have the ambitions and hopes of both races. Mulattoes and 
negroes keep together on account of social pressure from 
the whites. As to the number of mulattoes, Baker writes: 
"From my own observation and from talking and correspond- 
ing with many men who have had superior opportunities for 
investigation, I think it safe to say that between one-fourth 
and one-third of the Negroes in this country at the present 

time have a visible mixture of white blood It is probable 

that 3,000,000 persons out of the 10,000,000 population are 
visibly mulattoes." ('08, p. 153). The proportion of mulattoes 
is stated to be much larger in the North than in the South, and 
the census figures are mentioned as being unreliable. 

In a discussion of the political status of the negro, Stone 
(*08) argues that a distinction should be drawn between the 
pure negro and the mulatto. "There can no longer be a ques- 
tion as to the superior intelligence of the mulatto over the 
Negro — of his higher average potential capacity." ('08, p. 
401). The leaders of the colored race, says Stone, have been 
mulattoes, and this has been true in such places as Jamaica, 
Santo Domingo, Haiti, South Africa and Liberia, as well as 
in the United States. The exceptional blacks of pure blood 
who have attained prominence were generally not descended 
from true negroes at all. Their ancestry is to be found in 
those stocks, such as the Fulah and others of high type, that 
were brought from Africa as slaves in small numbers along 
with the mass of true negroes. 

From these abstracts it is evident that there is very little 
definitely known as to the relative merits of pure negroes and 
mulattoes. Of opinion, based more or less closely upon ob- 
servation, there is a great deal. But there has been no seri- 
ous attempt made to attack the problem from an experi- 
mental or scientific standpoint. The views of men are 
uncertain as to the relative abilities of whites and negroes; 
it is to be expected that they will be much more uncertain 
when they deal with sub-classes within the colored group. 

The Classification 

In the present investigation the negroes tested were divided 
into four classes on the basis of racial purity as indicated 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 91 

by color of skin, hair texture and general facial and cranial 
conformation, the main emphasis being placed upon color. 
The four classes were pure negroes, negroes three-fourths 
pure, mulattoes proper, and quadroons. Of course there were 
probably included in the classification some negroes who did 
not belong, strictly speaking, in any of these classes. A few 
octoroons, for example, may have been present, or a few 
persons who were of seven-eighths pure negro stock. Such 
cases were placed in the class which seemed to fit their status 
best, and it is not thought that any constant error resulted 
from this procedure. 

It is also probable that errors were made in the classifica- 
tion. Certain individuals may have been placed in a class too 
near the pure negroes or too near the pure whites. But here 
again the incorrect classifications would tend to balance each 
other, and it is improbable that a constant error in any direc- 
tion resulted. The effect of the overlapping of the classes 
would be to lessen the differences found between them.* Con- 
sequently it follows that in so far as the classification was in- 
accurate, the real differences were greater than those indicated 
by the scores. 

In setting forth the results of the tests, the four classes 
mentioned are adhered to. But in order to make the classifi- 
cation still less subject to error, and to secure a larger number 
of subjects in each class, the pure and the three-fourths pure 
negroes are grouped together, and the mulattoes and the quad- 
roons are grouped together, and the results are given sep- 
arately in all cases for the two resulting classes as well as 
for the original four. The difference in amount of white 
blood between these two classes is greater than that between 
any two classes of the four-class division, and the difference 
between the scores of the combined pure and three-fourths 
negroes and the combined mulattoes and quadroons should be 
correspondingly greater than that between the classes of the 
original division. This we shall find to be the case. And it 

*It seems to the writer that probably the greatest chance for 
erroneous classification occurred between the pure negroes and the ne- 
groes three-fourths pure. It is not unlikely that differences in color be- 
tween various stocks of pure negroes may have caused some com- 
paratively light-colored individuals of this class to be counted as three- 
fourths pure; and some three-fourths pure individuals of unusually 
dark native stock may have been classed as pure-blooded. This suppo- 
sition is borne out by the fact that the differences revealed by the 
tests between the pure and the three-fourths pure negroes were less 
than the differences between the other classes. 



92 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

should be noted in this connection that the class composed 
of mulattoes and quadroons is very predominantly mulatto, 
since the quadroons were few in number. This fact obviously 
makes the difference found between mulattoes and quadroons 
combined and pure and three-fourths negroes combined less 
than it really is. 

It should be said that the classification of the negroes was 
made by the writer, who had had considerable experience 
with negroes, at the time the tests were administered. None 
of the subjects was previously known to him, and he is aware 
of no circumstance that could have influenced the classifica- 
tion in addition to the basis previously adopted. The sub- 
jects seemed to fit into the various classes both naturally and 
easily, and doubt as to the correctness of a classification was 
so infrequent as to be negligible. 

Numbers and Ages 

The negroes tested in Fredericksburg and Newport News 
were so few that the results from those cities were not used 
in this intra-racial study. There was not a sufficient num- 
ber of each of the four classes in either city to enable results 
to be computed for any year or any grade. As in the gen- 
eral comparison between whites and negroes, results from 
only one subject were not considered. 

The 319 negroes tested in Richmond fell into the different 
classes numerically as shown in Tables 33 and 34, which give 
the numbers by age and sex and by grades. The three high- 
est and the two lowest years are not used in the comparisons 
on account of the small number of pupils in them. It may 
be noted that the largest class is composed of mulattoes, the 
smallest of quadroons, and that the classes of pure negroes 
and three-fourths pure negroes are of about equal size. The 
mulattoes and quadroons together constitute 52 per cent, of 
the total; the pure and three-fourths negroes together con- 
stitute 48 per cent, of the total. In the elementary school 
the mulattoes and quadroons are 46 per cent, of the total 
number; in the high school the mulattoes and quadroons are 
59 per cent, of the total number. There is thus a larger pro- 
portion of light-colored negroes in the high school than in the 
elementary school. And in the grades tested as a whole 
there is a larger percentage of negroes of mixed blood than 
there is in the city at large, as shown by the census figures. 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 



93 



These facts as to the relative numbers of pure and mixed 
bloods in the school system indicate that the schools select 
colored persons of partly white lineage to a greater extent 
than they select pure negroes, and that as the grades advance 
the selection becomes more pronounced. This would imply 
that mulattoes in general are of greater ability and ambition 
than are pure negroes. And the fact that there is a larger 
proportion of light-colored negroes in the high school than in 
the elementary school would partly explain the relatively 
greater ability of high school negroes that was found in the 
general comparison between white and colored subjects. 
Mixed bloods, as will be shown, are of greater ability, and 
there are proportionately more of them in the upper grades. 

TABLE XXXIII. 

Number of Colored Subjects — Richmond — Classified by Racial 
Purity, Age and Sex 



Ages 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


18 


19 


21 ' 


Totals 


Boys 


























Pure 




1 


4 


8 


7 


4 


4 


4 


2 


2 


, , 


36 


Three-Fourths 


i 


3 


2 


3 


5 


4 


2 


3 


1 


1 


, , 


25 


Mulattoes 




1 


8 


7 


4 


7 


8 


2 


3 


1 


, , 


41 


Quadroons 


, , 


1 


, , 


1 


2 


1 












5 


Girls 


























Pure 




1 


4 


5 


10 


8 


2 


7 


1 


. . 


, , 


38 


Three-Fourths 


1 


1 


10 


9 


14 


6 


7 


2 


4 


1 


, . 


55 


Mulattoes 


2 


4 


8 


16 


12 


11 


19 


10 


6 


1 


1 


90 


Quadroons 


, , 


8 


. , 


4 


6 


2 


5 


4 


4 


1 




29 


Boys 


























Pure and 


























Three-Fourths 


1 


4 


6 


11 


12 


8 


6 


7 


3 


3 


. . 


61 


Mulattoes and 


























Quadroons 


, , 


2 


8 


8 


6 


8 


8 


2 


3 


1 




46 


Girls 


























Pure and 


























Three-Fourths 


1 


2 


14 


14 


24 


14 


9 


9 


5 


1 




93 


Mulattoes and 


























Quadroons 


2 


7 


8 


20 


18 


13 


24 


14 


10 


2 


1 


119 



TABLE XXXIV. 

Number op Colored Subjects — Richmond — Classified by Racial 
Purity and Grades 



Grades 



5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 2B 3A 4A Totals 



Pure 


10 


10 


11 


5 


5 


4 


12 


5 


2 


3 


7 


74 


Three-Fourths 


10 


13 


10 


5 


7 


5 


9 


9 


5 


4 


3 


80 


Mulattoes 


20 


13 


11 


9 


7 


9 


14 


13 


11 


12 


12 


131 


Quadroons 


2 


2 


3 


3 




1 


7 


4 


3 


6 


3 


34 


Pure and 


























Three-Fourths 


20 


23 


21 


10 


12 


9 


21 


14 


7 


7 


10 


154 


Mulattoes and 


























Quadroons 


22 


15 


14 


12 


7 


10 


21 


17 


14 


18 


15 


165 



94 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

The ages of the different classes of negroes in the various 
grades are given in Table 35, and the differences between the 
age of each class and the age of white pupils of the same 
grade — the white pupils in question being those tested in 
Richmond — are given in Table 36. This latter table shows 
that the pure negroes were .69 of a year older than the white 
pupils; the three-fourths pure negroes were .32 of a year 
older; the mulattoes were .29 of a year older; and the quad- 
roons were .07 of a year younger. The pure and three-fourths 
negroes combined were .51 of a year older than the whites; 
the mulattoes and quadroons combined were .23 of a year 
older. These figures are significant. They show that the 
darker negroes were slower in reaching a given grade than 
were those of lighter color. The differences are small, and 
are subject to variation from grade to grade. But the aver- 
age differences, which are here quoted, are uniformly greater 
for the darker negroes, and the probable errors are not large 
enough to invalidate the significance of this uniformity. 

TABLE XXXV. 

Ages of the Colored Subjects — Richmond — Classified by Racial 

Purity and Grades 
Grades 5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 2B 3A 4A 

Pure Av. 12.7 13.2 12.8 14.2 14.8 14.7 15.4 17.0 16.5 16.0 17.8 

A.D. .9 .6 .6 .3 .3 .7 .8 .4 .5 1.3 .7 

Three-Fourths Av. 11.7 13.1 13.0 13.4 13.7 14.4 14.3 16.6 16.6 17.7 17.0 

A.D. 1.0 1.0 .8 1.5 .6 .6 .6 .6 1.1 .9 1.3 

Mulattoes Av. 12.6 12.4 12.8 13.2 13.8 14.6 15.2 15.8 16.5 16.6 17.6 

A.D. 1.1 .9 .6 .8 1.3 .8 .5 .8 1.0 .5 1.2 

Quadroons Av. 12.0 12.0 11.6 14.0 . . . . 14.0 16.0 16.6 17.0 17.6 

A.D. 1.0 1.0 .9 3 1.0 .9 .7 .9 

Pure and 

Three-Fourths Av. 12.2 13.1 12.9 13.8 14.1 14.5 14.9 16.7 16.5 17.0 17.6 

A.D. 1.0 .8 .7 .9 .7 .7 .8 .6 .9 1.1 .9 
Mulattoes and 

Quadroons Av. 12.5 12.4 12.5 13.4 13.8 14.5 14.8 15.8 16.5 16.7 17.6 

A.D. 1.1 .9 .9 .8 1.3 .9 .7 .9 1.0 .6 1.2 

TABLE XXXVI. 

Ages — Difference in Years Between the White and Each of the 

Four Classes of Colored Subjects Tested — Richmond 

(Minus signs indicate that the colored subjects are of greater age.) 

Grades 

5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 3A 4A Av. P.E. 

Pure Negroes ^ „ «« ^c 

—.3 —.7 .6 —1.0 —1.5 —1.1 —1.0 —1.6 .5 — .8 —.69 .15 
Three-Fourths 

.7 _.6 .4 _ .2 — .4 .8 .1 —1.2 —1.2 —.32 .14 

Mulattoes 

_.2 .1 .6 — .5 —1.0 _ .8 — .4 — .1 — .6 —.29 .10 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 95 

5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 3A 4A Av. P.E. 
Quadroons 

.4 .5 1.8 — .8 4 — .6 — .5 — .6 .07 J21 

Pure and Three-Fourths 

M 1 ./^ ~-^A r. •^- .6 - .8 - .9 - .5 -1.3 - .5 - .6 -.51 .09 
Mulattoes and Quadroons 

—.1 .1 .9 — 2 — .5 — .9 — .4 — .4 — .2 — .6 —.23 .09 

Standing in the Tests 

The tests used in this comparison are the mixed relations, 
Tests I and II, and the completion. These tests revealed 
marked differences between whites and negroes as a whole, 
and they are therefore well adapted to bring out any differ- 
ences that may exist between the various classes of negroes. 
The maze and cancellation tests did not show any considerable 
differences in the general inter-racial comparison, and they 
are consequently not employed here. ^ 

In setting forth the results of the tests the same order is 
followed as in the preceding chapter. In the case of each test, 
first are given the actual scores, with their average devia- 
tions, classified by age and sex and by grades. Then appear 
graphs based upon these scores. The graphs are drawn only 
for the two-division classification — that of pure and three- 
fourths negroes combined and mulattoes and quadroons com- 
bined. The scores of the white pupils tested in Richmond 
are included in the graphs for the sake of comparison. Fol- 
lowing the graphs are the tables in which the comparisons 
are made. In each instance the score of the colored subjects 
is compared with that of the corresponding white pupils. 
The actual differences between the scores are given; the 
percentage of the score of the whites that was obtained by 
the negroes next appears; and lastly are shown the per- 
centages of the two-division classification that reach or ex- 
ceed the average score of the whites. The averages of the 
various ages and grades, with their probable errors, appear 
in each table of comparison. 

Tables 37 and 38 give the scores in the mixed relations test. 
Figures 16-21 present these scores in graphic form. Tables 
39-43 make the comparisons. From these latter tables the 
following facts appear. 



96 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 



TABLE XXXVII. 

Mixed Relations Test — Scores of Colored Subjects — Richmond — 
Classified by Racial Purity, Age and Sex 

Ages 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 
Test I. 
Boys — Pure 

Av 6.5 12.3 9.7 10.5 19.3 18.7 20.0 16.5 

A.D 1.0 4.1 3.2 1.5 8.3 5.2 4.0 10.5 

Boys — Three-Fourths 

Av. .. 9.0 9.0 17.0 18.5 6.5 21.0 19.3 

A.D. .. 2.6 1.0 6.0 5.5 2.5 0. 10.3 

Boys — Mulattoes 

Av 12.5 7.4 12.5 17.2 21.0 32.5 19.6 

A.D 6.0 3.5 4.5 8.5 9.5 2.5 12.6 

Boys — Quadroons 

Av 28.0 

A.D 

Girls — Pure 

Av 9.6 10.5 12.6 15.1 17.0 21.4 

A.D 4.0 6.0 4.4 7.5 5.0 6.1 

Girls — Three-Fourths 

Av 9.8 10.6 11.4 20.8 23.4 16.0 16.5 

A.D 4.6 3.7 6.1 7.8 6.7 4.0 6.0 

Girls — Mulattoes 

Av. 9.5 12.0 12.5 14.6 15.7 18.1 20.1 29.5 14.8 

A.D. 7.5 3.0 6.1 6.9 9.9 9.4 7.2 4.7 6.5 

Girls — Quadroons 

Av. .. 9.6 .. 10.7 23.0 20.0 23.4 30.7 25.2 

A.D. .. 5.3 .. 7.2 8.3 12.0 6.4 4.2 9.7 

Test II. 

Boys — Pure 

Av 7.7 13.0 12.8 18.0 24.0 26.5 36.5 28.5 

A.D 2.7 3.5 8.8 7.0 7.0 10.5 1.5 .5 

Boys — Three-Fourths , 

Av. .. 11.3 9.0 17.3 18.8 4,5 22.0 33.3 

A.D. .. 7.0 0. 7.0 10.8 1.5 7.0 3.0 

Boys — Mulattoes 

Av 14.0 9.8 15.0 27.5 24.5 39.5 27.6 

A.D 8.2 3.4 8.0 7.1 10.0 .5 8.0 

Boys — Quadroons . 

Av 25.5 

A.D 13.5 

Girls — Pure . 

Av 9.0 8.2 13.7 19.8 28.5 26.8 

A.D 3.3 2.2 7.5 8.8 7.5 9.7 

Girls — Three-Fourths 

Av 9.8 15.2 11.2 26.3 29.7 22.0 20.2 

A.D 4.8 6.6 7.5 7.3 6.7 4.0 5.2 

Girls — Mulattoes 

Av. 13.0 14.0 12.1 11.6 20.5 20.6 26.4 35.3 19.8 

A.D. 5.0 5.0 5.3 7.6 12.2 10.0 6.6 3.7 10.8 

Girls — Quadroons 

Av. .. 15.5 .. 8.6 24.6 27.0 30.8 37.5 30.7 

A.D. .. 3.5 .. 4.6 12.6 10,0 5.2 1.0 8.2 

Test I. 

Boys — Pure and Three-Fourths 

Av. .. 10.5 7.3 13.6 12.9 7.8 19.7 19.0 20.3 16.5 

A.D. .. 3.5 1.3 4.2 6.0 2.8 6.7 7.4 3.0 10.5 

Boys — Mulattoes and Quadroons 

Av. .. 13.5 12.5 9.5 15.6 17.2 21.0 32.5 19.6 

A.D. .. 4.5 6.0 4.7 7.4 8.5 9.5 2.5 12,6 

Girls — Pure and Three-Fourths 



13 
10.6 

4.4 


14 

11.9 

5.3 


15 

18.0 

8.3 


16 

22.0 

6.2 


17 

20.2 

5.5 


18 

17.2 

5.4 


19 


13.7 
7.2 


18.1 
9.9 


18.4 
9.8 


20.8 
6.9 


29.8 
4.7 


19.0 
10.0 


29.5 
.5 


14.1 

4.7 


15.3 
10.0 


11.2 
7.5 


23.3 
7.0 


29.8 
8.2 


36.6 
1.3 


32.0 
4.6 


'l3.2 

7.2 


18.5 
10.8 


28.4 
7.0 


24.5 
10.0 


39.5 
.5 


27.6 
8.0 


•• 


12.7 
5.8 


12.2 

7.7 


22.6 
8.0 


29.4 
6.8 


25.7 
8.5 


19.8 
4.8 


•• 


11.1 
5.0 


21.9 
4.5 


21.6 
5.3 


27.3 
7.3 ] 


35.9 
LO.O ] 


24.2 
LO.l 


28.0 
6.6 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 97 

Ages 10 11 12 

Av. .. 17.5 9.7 

A.D. .. 3.5 4.3 
Girls — Mulattoes and Quadroons 

Av. 9.5 11.0 12.5 

A.D. 7.5 4.2 6.1 
Test II. 
Boys — Pure and Three-Fourths 

Av. .. 12.0 8.0 

A.D. .. 6.0 2.8 
Boys — Mulattoes and Quadroons 

Av. .. 14.0 14.0 

A.D. .. 12.0 8.2 
Girls — Pure and Three-Fourths 

Av. .. 25.5 9.6 

A.D. .. .5 4.5 
Girls — Mulattoes and Quadroons 

Av. 13.0 14.5 12.1 

3.3 11.0 0. A.D. 

TABLE XXXVIII. 

Mixed Relations Test — Scores of Colored Subjects — Richmond — 
Classified by Racial Purity and Grades 

Grades 5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 2B 3A 4A 

Test I. 

Pure 

Av. 7.6 10.5 12.4 12.2 13.3 11.7 18.4 17.4 21.0 28.6 17.5 

A.D. 2.6 3.8 4.2 3.7 4.3 5.2 7.7 4.4 1.0 3.3 6.5 

Three-Fourths 

Av. 9.3 8.6 13.6 17.0 8.7 13.4 17.7 20.0 22.0 22.0 22.3 

A.D. 3.5 1.6 5.6 4.0 5.5 6.4 4.1 7.1 7.6 6.6 10.3 

Mulattoes 

Av. 9.8 12.3 13.1 12.8 9.0 11.6 23.2 22.0 16.4 30.0 24.0 

A.D. 3.9 4.7 7.6 6.4 4.0 5.5 6.5 9.8 6.0 3.9 10.3 

Quadroons 

Av. 4.5 9.0 12.3 13.0 .. .. 27.3 22.2 13.3 32.1 29.6 

A.D. 2.5 1.0 7.0 2.0 .. .. 4.6 8.2 5.0 3.1 4.6 

Test II. 

Pure 

Av. 8.7 9.8 12.5 15.2 18.2 11.5 22.5 28.4 26.0 35.0 28.4 

A.D. 4.5 4.8 4.5 4.2 7.8 5.0 10.0 4.4 10.0 1.3 7.5 

Three-Fourths 

Av. 12.6 8.9 12.1 16.0 14.4 10.6 24.6 27.2 29.0 34.2 24.3 

A.D. 6.8 4.5 6.1 8,8 7.5 6.6 8.4 7.5 6.4 4.7 9.6 

Mulattoes ^ „„ ^ 

Av. 9.1 12.1 15.7 14.0 17.4 13.4 28.6 28.3 21.8 35.6 30.5 

A.D. 4.2 7.6 8.1 8.2 7.2 7.1 6.6 7.3 7.1 2.8 8.6 

Quadroons „ ^^ ^ 

Av. 4.0 9.0 22.5 8.0 .. .. 35.1 29.7 23.0 36.1 34.6 

A.D. 0. 3.0 3.5 2.6 .. .. 2.4 6.7 8.0 1.5 4.6 

Test I. 

Pure and 

Three-Fourths ^ ^ ^ „ 

Av. 8.4 9.4 13.0 14.2 10.1 12.6 18.1 19.0 21.7 25.3 19.0 

A.D. 3.0 2.7 4.9 4.0 5.9 6.0 5.8 5.9 5.5 5.6 8.0 

Mulattoes and 

Quadroons^ H.g 13.0 12.9 9.0 13.1 24.5 22.0 15.7 30.7 25.1 

A.D. 3.9 4.0 7.4 5.6 4.0 6.9 6.3 9.4 5.7 3.6 9.4 

Test II. 

Pure and 

Three-Fourths 



98 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 



Grades 5A 


5B 


6A 


6B 


7A 


7B 


lA 


2A 


2B 


3A 


4A 


Av. 10.5 


9.3 


12.3 


15.6 


16.0 


11.0 


23.4 


27.6 


28.1 


34.5 


27.2 


A.D. 5.5 


4.8 


5.2 


6.4 


8.0 


6.2 


9.3 


6.6 


7.5 


3.4 


8.4 


Mulattoes and 






















Quadroons 






















Av. 8.9 


11.7 


16.7 


12.5 


17.4 


13.7 


30.8 


28.6 


22.0 


35.8 


31.3 


A.D. 4.1 


6.8 


8.0 


7.0 


7.2 


6.7 


5.7 


7.3 


7.3 


2.5 


7.9 



In Test I, in the case of boys, classified by age, the pure ne- 
groes obtained 58.8 per cent, of the score of the whites; the 
three-fourths pure negroes obtained 72.2 per cent, of the 
score of the whites ; and the mulattoes obtained 78.5 per cent, 
of the white score.* When the boys are grouped into two 
classes, pure and three-fourths combined and mulattoes and 
quadroons combined, the former class is shown to have ob- 
tained 62.0 per cent, of the score of the whites while the latter 
class obtained 83.5 per cent, of the white score. 

The girls in Test I, classified by age, obtained the following 
percentages of the white score: Pure negroes, 68.0; three- 
fourths pure negroes, 71.3; mulattoes, 87.5; quadroons, 99.0. 
When the girls are arranged in two classes the results are 
as follows; The pure and three-fourths negroes combined 
scored 72.0 per cent, as high as the whites; the mulattoes 
and quadroons combined scored 89.3 per cent, as high as the 
whites. 

The grade comparison for Test I shows that the pure ne- 
groes, boys and girls together, scored 73.3 per cent, as high 
as the whites ; the three-fourths pure negroes scored 74.6 per 
cent, as high; the mulattoes scored 81.6 per cent, as high; 
the quadroons scored 87.9 per cent, as high as the whites. 
The two-division classification by grades shows that the pure 
and three-fourths negroes obtained 72.9 per cent, of the white 
score, and that the mulattoes and quadroons obtained 82.8 
per cent, of the white score. 

The percentages of negroes reaching or exceeding the aver- 
age of the whites were as follows in Test I : Boys — ^Pure and 
three-fourths combined, 17.0; Mulattoes and quadroons com- 
bined, 38.5. Girls — ^Pure and three-fourths combined, 25.5; 

*There was not a sufficiently large number of quadroon boys to be 
included as a separate class in the tables of comparison. There were 
only five such boys in all, and only two of them were in any one age 
group, namely, age 14. These two scored higher than any of the other 
classes of negroes, but of course a result from such a small number is 
practically worthless. The quadroon boys are included in the groups 
of combined mulattoes and quadroons, however, and in the grade groups 
of quadroons, which contain both boys and girls. 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 



99 



Mulattoes and quadroons combined, 41.3. Grades — ^Pure and 
three-fourths combined, 25.4; Mulattoes and quadroons com- 
bined, 38.4. 




Fig. 16. Mixed Relations Test I — Scores of Whites, Mulattoes and 
Quadroons Combined, and Pure and Three-Fourths Negroes Combined — 
Boys — Richmond.* 

*The white, the shaded and the black columns indicate the scores of 
the whites, the mulattoes and quadroons combined, and the pure and 
three-fourths negroes combined, respectively. 




A&E 



Fig. 17. Mixed Relations Test I — Scores of Whites, Mulattoes and 
Quadroons Combined, and Pure and Three-Fourths Negroes Combined — 
Girls — Richmond 




Fig. 18. Mixed Relations Test I — Scores of Whites, Mulattoes and 
Quadroons Combined, and Pure and Three-Fourths Negroes Combined — 
Grades — Richmond. 



100 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 




AfrE 



Fig. 19. Mixed Relations Test II — Scores of Whites, Mulattoes and 
Quadroons Combined, and Pure and Three-Fourths Negroes Combined — 
Boys — Richmond. 




Fig. 20. Mixed Relations Test II — Scores of Whites, Mulattoes and 
Quadroons Combined, and Pure and Three-Fourths Negroes Combined — 
Girls — Richmond. 




Fig. 21. Mixed Relations Test II — Scores of Whites, Mulattoes and 
Quadroons Combined, and Pure and Three-Fourths Negroes Combined — 
Grades — Richmond. 

These figures show that in Test I the size of the score made 
by the negroes varies directly with the amount of their white 
blood. As judged by the averages, this is true without excep- 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 101 

tion for both boys and girls and in both the age and the grade 
classifications. The size of the probable errors and the con- 
stancy of the results renders the differences reliable. In the 
two-division classification the differences are larger than in 
the four-division classification, as was to be expected, and the 
results here are especially reliable when the size of the proba- 
ble errors is considered. 

TABLE XXXIX. 

Mixed Relations Test — Difference Between Scores of the White 

AND Each of the Four Classes of Colored Subjects, by 

Age and Sex — Richmond 

(Minus signs indicate greater scores by the colored subjects.) 

Ages 12 13 14 15 16 17 Av. P.E. 
Test I. 

Boys— Pure 10.0 6.0 8.3 9.6 8.5 6.9 8.2 .4 

Boys— Three-Fourths 7.5 1.3 —.5 13.6 6.8 6.3 5.8. 1.3 

Boys— Mulattoes 4.0 10.9 5.5 2.9 6.8 —6.9 3.9 1.4 

Girls— Pure 9.2 7.5 10.1 7.9 8.0 —1.6 6.8 1.0 

Girls— Three-Fourths 9.0 7.4 11.3 2.2 1.6 3.8 5.9 1.2 

Girls— Mulattoes 6.3 3.4 7.0 4.9 4.9 —9.7 2.8 1.5 

Girls— Quadroons . . 7.3 —.3 3.0 1.6 —10.9 .1 1.8 
Test II. 

Boys— Pure 11.8 8.3 11.3 4.0 9.0 8.1 8.7 .7 

Boys~Three-Fourthsl0.5 4.0 5.3 17.5 11.0 1.3 8.3 1.6 

Boys— Mulattoes 5.5 11.5 9.1 —5.5 8.5 —4.9 4.0 2.2 

Girls— Pure 13.4 13.3 11.0 8.8 3.2 1.0 8.4 1.5 

Girls-Three-Fourths 12.6 6.3 13.5 2.3 2.0 5.8 7.1 1.4 
Girls— Mulattoes 10.3 9.9 4.2 8.0 5.3 —7.5 5.0 1.6 
Girls— Quadroons .. 12.9 .1 1.6 .9 —9.7 1.2 1.8 

Test I. 
Boys 
Pure and 

Three-Fourths 9.2 4.7 5.1 12.3 8.1 6.6 7.7 .8 

Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 4.0 8.8 2.4 2.9 6.8 —6.9 3.0 1.2 

Girls 
Pure and 

Three-Fourths 9.? 7.4 10.8 5.0 3.0 —.4 5.8 1.2 

Mulattoes and ^ . 

Quadroons 6.3 4.3 4.6 4.6 4.2 —10.0 2.3 1.4 

Test II. 
Boys 
Pure and ^ _ ^ „ „ „ _ 

Three-Fourths 11.5 7.2 8.8 10.8 9.7 4.8 8.8 .7 
Mulattoes and ^ , ^ ^ „ „ _ . 

Quadroons 5.5 8.1 5.6 —6.4 8.5 —4.9 2.7 2.0 

Girls 

PurG &Tld 

Three-Fourths 12.8 8.8 12.5 6.0 2.3 2.1 7.4 1.4 

Mulattoes and ^ ^ ^„ ^ ^ „, ._ ,_ 

Quadroons 10.3 10.4 2.8 7.0 4.4 —8.1 4.5 1.7 



102 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 



TABLE XL. 

Mixed Relations Test — Difference Between Scores op thp White 
AND Each of the Four Classes of Colored Subjects, by 

Grades — Richmond 
(Minus signs indicate greater scores by the colored subjects.) 



Grades 


5A 


5B 


6A 


6B 


7A 


7B 


lA 


2A 


3A 


4A 


Av. 


Test I. 
























Pure 


5.5 


3.4 


4.4 


4.6 


5.1 


13.2 


7.1 


10.6 


—5.5 


5.8 


5.4 


Three-Fourths 


3.8 


5.3 


3.2 


— .2 


9.7 


11.5 


7.8 


8.0 


1.1 


1.0 


5.1 


Mulattoes 


3.3 


1.6 


3.7 


4.0 


9.4 


13.3 


2.3 


6.0 


—6.9 


— .7 


3.6 


Quadroons 


8.6 


4.9 


4.5 


3.8 


. . 


, . 


—1.8 


5.8 


—9.0 


—6.3 


1.3 


Test IL 
























Pure 


6.1 


8.2 


7.3 


7.4 


3.6 


17.9 


6.5 


5.2 


—3.2 


1.8 


6.1 


Three-Fourths 


2.2 


9.1 


7.7 


6.6 


7.4 


18.8 


4.4 


6.4 


—2.4 


5.9 


6.6 


Mulattoes 


5.7 


5.9 


4.1 


8.6 


4.4 


16.0 


.4 


5.3 


—3.8 


— .3 


4.6 


Quadroons 


10.8 


9.0 


—2.7 


14.6 


, , 


, , 


—6.1 


3.9 


—4.3 


—4.4 


2.6 


Test I. 
























Pure and 
























Three-Fourths 


4.7 


4.5 


3.8 


2.6 


8.3 


12.3 


7:4 


9.0 


—2.2 


4.3 


5.5 


Mulattoes and 
























Quadroons 


3.8 


2.1 


3.8 


3.9 


9.4 


11.8 


1.0 


6.0 


—7.6 


—1.8 


3:2 


Test n. 
























Pure and 
























Three-Fourths 


4.3 


8.7 


7.5 


7.0 


5.8 


18.4 


5.6 


6.0 


—2.7 


3.0 


6.4 


Mulattoes and 
























Quadroons 


5.9 


6.3 


3.1 


10.1 


4.4 


15.7 


—1.8 


5.0 


—4.0 


—1.1 


4.4 










TABLE 


XLI. 













Mixed Relations Test — Percentage of the Scora; op the White 

Obtained by Each op the Four Classes of Colored Subjects, 

BY Age and Sex — Richmond 



Ages 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


Av. 


P.E. 


Test I. 


















Boys — Pure 


37 


67 


54 


52 


70 


73 


58.8 


3.8 


Boys — Three-Fourths 


53 


93 


103 


32 


76 


76 


72.2 


7.0 


Boys— -Mulattoes 


75 


39 


69 


85 


76 


127 


78.5 


6.3 


Girls — Pure 


52 


58 


56 


66 


68 


108 


68.0 


4.5 


Girls- Three-Fourths 


53 


59 


51 


90 


94 


81 


71.3 


5.9 


Girls — Mulattoes 


67 


81 


70 


79 


80 


148 


87.5 


7.0 


Girls — Quadroons 
Test n. 
Boys — Pure 


•• 


59 


101 


87 


94 


154 


99.0 


8.7 


38 


60 


53 


82 


73 


77 


63.8 


4.5 


Boys — Three-Fourths 


45 


81 


78 


20 


67 


96 


64.5 


7.3 


Boys — Mulattoes 


71 


45 


62 


125 


74 


114 


81.8 


8.7 


Girls — Pure 


39 


37 


56 


70 


90 


96 


64.7 


7.3 


Girls — Three-Fourths 


43 


70 


46 


92 


94 


79 


70.7 


6.3 


Girls — Mulattoes 


53 


53 


83 


72 


83 


127 


78.5 


6.6 


Girls — Quadroons 


, , 


39 


100 


94 


97 


135 


93.0 


8.4 


Test I. 


















Boys — Pure and 


















Three-Fourths 


42 


74 


72 


38 


71 


75 


62.0 


5.2 


Mulattoes and 


















Quadroons 


75 


51 


87 


85 


76 


127 


83.5 


5.6 


Girls — Pure and 


















Three-Fourths 


52 


59 


53 


78 


88 


102 


72.0 


5.9 


Mulattoes and 


















Quadroons 


67 


76 


80 


80 


83 


150 


89.3 


7.0 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 



103 



Ages 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


Av. 


P.E. 


Test II. 


















Boys — Pure and 


















Three-Fourths 


39 


66 


63 


51 


71 


86 


62.7 


4.2 


Mulattoes and 


















Quadroons 
Girls — Pure and 


71 


61 


77 


129 


74 


114 


87.7 


8.0 


















Three-Fourths 


42 


58 


50 


79 


93 


92 


69.0 


6.6 


Mulattoes and 


















Quadroons 


53 


50 


89 


76 


86 


129 


80.5 


7.3 






TABLE XLII. 











Mixed Relations Test — Percentage op the Score op the Whith 

Obtained by Each of the Four Classes op Colored 

Subjects, by Grades — Richmond 



Grades 

Test I. 

Pure 

Three-Fourths 

Mulattoes 

Quadroons 

Test II. 

Pure 

Three-Fourths 

Mulattoes 

Quadroons 

Test I. 

Pure and 

Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 
Test II. 
Pure and 

Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 



5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 3A 4A Av. P.E. 

58 76 74 73 72 47 72 62 124 75 73.3 2.8 
71 62 81 101 46 54 69 71 95 96 74.6 3.9 
75 89 78 76 48 47 91 79 130 103 81.6 4.4 
34 65 74 78 . . . . 107 79 139 127 87.9 8.1 

59 54 63 68 84 38 78 85 110 94 73.3 4.4 
85 49 61 71 66 35 85 81 107 80 72.0 4.2 
62 67 79 63 80 45 99 84 112 101 79.2 4.2 
28 50 113 37 . . . . 121 89 113 115 83.2 10.2 



64 68 78 85 54 51 70 68 110 81 72.9 3.1 
71 85 78 77 48 53 96 79 133 108 82.8 4.7 

71 52 62 70 74 37 81 82 108 90 72.7 3.6 

61 65 84 56 80 46 106 85 112 104 79.9 4.7 

TABLE XLIIL 

Mixed Relations Test — Percentage op Each of Two Classes op 

Colored Subjects Reaching or Exceeding the Average op thb 

White, by Age and Sex and by Grades — Richmond 



Ages 

Test I. 

Boys — Pure and 

Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 
Girls — Pure and 

Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 
Test II. 
Boys — Pure and 

Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 
Girls — Pure and 

Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 



12 13 14 15 16 17 

27 36 25 14 

25 12 40 29 25 100 

8 23 8 25 33 56 

17 28 39 38 33 93 

18 25 12 17 43 

25 12 33 86 25 100 

8 7 12 36 56 44 

12 21 56 38 37 93 



Av. P.E. 

17.0 4.2 

38.5 7.3 

25.5 4.2 

41.3 5.9 

19.2 3.4 

46.8 10.1 

27.2 6.3 

42.8 7.3 



104 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

Grades 5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 3A 4A .. .. 

Test I. 
Pure and 

Three-Fourths 15 14 38 29 20 17 14 67 40 25.4 3.6 
Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 27 31 36 18 20 50 41 94 67 38.4 5.2 

Test II. 
Pure and 

Three-Fourths 26 19 19 20 25 48 21 86 40 30.4 4.2 
Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 10 20 31 17 43 76 29 89 60 37.5 6.0 

We may conveniently average the percentages obtained by 
the boys, girls and grades in each class. When this is done 
the scores for the four classes of negroes, in terms of per- 
centages of the score of whites, are as follows : Pure negroes, 
66.7.; negroes three-fourths pure, 72.7; mulattoes, 82.5; quad- 
roons, 93.4. The scores of the two-division classification, in 
the same terms, are: Pure and three-fourths negroes, 69.0; 
mulattoes and quadroons, 85.2. Averaging the percentages 
of boys, girls and grades that reached or exceeded the average 
score of whites, we find that 22.6 per cent, of the combined 
pure and three-fourths negroes, and 39.4 per cent, of the com- 
bined mulattoes and quadroons reached the white average. 

In Test II the same situation occurs. The percentages of 
the score of the whites obtained by the pure, the three-fourths 
pure and the mulatto boys were 63.8, 64.5 and 81.8, respec- 
tively. For the girls, the percentages obtained by the pure 
negroes, the negroes three-fourths pure, the mulattoes and 
the quadroons were, respectively, 64.7, 70.7, 78.5 and 93.0. 
For the grades, the percentages, in the same order, were 73.3, 
72.0, 79.2 and 83.2.* 

The combined pure and three-fourths pure negroes and the 
combined mulattoes and quadroons scored, in Test II, the fol- 
lowing respective percentages of the score of the whites: 
Boys— 62.7 and 87.7 ; Girls— 69.0 and 80.5 ; Grades— 72.7 and 
79.9. 

*It should be noted that in the comparison by ^ades in Test II the 
pure negroes scored 1.3 per cent, higher than those three-fourths pure. 
In the grade comparison of the completion test the pure negroes also 
scored higher, by 2.0 per cent., than the three-fourths negroes. These 
are the only instances in which subjects with a greater amount of white 
blood were inferior to those with a lesser amount. As was previously 
pointed out, comparisons by grades are not as likely to reveal marked 
or reliable differences as are comparisons by ages; and as was also 
pointed out, the classes of pure and three-fourths pure negroes may 
not have been as well separated as the other classes. 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 105 

The percentages of negroes reaching or exceeding the aver- 
age of the whites in Test II were as follows : Boys — Pure and 
three-fourths, 19.2; Mulattoes and quadroons, 46.8. Girls — 
Pure and three-fourths, 27.2; Mulattoes and quadroons, 42.8. 
Grades — Pure and three-fourths, 30.4; Mulattoes and quad- 
roons, 37.5. 

If we average for Test II the percentages obtained by the 
boys, girls and grades in each class, we find that the pure 
negroes obtained 67.3 per cnt. of the score of the whites; 
that the three-fourths pure negroes obtained 69.1 per cent, 
of the score of the whites; that the mulattoes obtained 79.8 
per cent, of the white score ; and that the quadroons obtained 
88.1 per cent, of the white score. The pure and three-fourths 
negroes, boys, girls and grades, scored 68.1 per cent, as high 
as the whites; the mulattoes and quadroons, boys, girls and 
grades, scored 82.7 per cent, as high as the whites. Aver- 
aging the percentages of boys, girls and grades that reached 
or exceeded the average white score, we find that 25.6 per 
cent, of the pure and three-fourths pure negroes reached the 
white average; and that the white average was reached by 
42.4 per cent, of the mulattoes and quadroons. 

The results of the completion test appear in Tables 44 and 
45 and in Figures 22-24. The comparisons are made in Ta- 
bles 46-50. These latter tables show the following results: 

In the case of boys, the pure negroes obtained 65.3 per 
cent, of the score of the whites; the three-fourths pure ne- 
groes obtained 76.2 per cent. ; and the mulattoes obtained 79.2 
per cent. For girls, the percentages for the four classes of 
negroes, pure, three-fourths pure, mulattoes and quadroons, 
were, respectively, 74.3, 77.7, 81.8 and 95.8. For grades, the 
percentages were: Pure negroes, 81.4; three-fourths pure, 79.4; 
mulattoes, 82.9; quadroons, 92.2. When the pure and three- 
fourths pure negroes and the mulattoes and quadroons are 
grouped together, it appears that the pure and three-fourths 
pure boys scored 68.7 per cent, as high as the whites, and 
that the mulatto and quadroon boys scored 82.0 per cent, as 
high as the whites. The girls, purs and three-fourths pure, 
obtained 77.3 per cent, of the white score ; and the girls, mu- 
lattoes and quadroons, obtained 83.5 per cent, of the white 
score. In the case of the grades, the pure and three-fourths 
pure negroes scored 80.2 per cent, as high as the whites, and 
the mulattoes and quadroons scored 83.4 per cent, as high. 



106 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 



TABLE XLIV. 

Completion Test — Scores op Colored Subjects — Richmond — Classi- 
fied BY Racial Purity, Age and Sex 



Ages 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


18 


19 


Boys 






















Pure Av. 


, . 




12.5 


12.7 


15.5 


12.0 


19.2 


20.0 


34.0 


31.5 


A.D. 


, , 




1.0 


3.2 


5.7 


3.0 


2.2 


5.0 


0. 


3.5 


Three-Fourths Av. 


, , 


8.6 


15.0 


17.3 


14.7 


10.2 


16.0 


36.3 






A.D. 




2.6 


5.0 


3.0 


6.7 


3.7 


6.0 


3.6 






Mulattoes Av. 




, , 


13.2 


11.4 


15.5 


20.7 


23.6 


32.0 


29.6 


, , 


A.D. 


, , 


, , 


2.5 


5.5 


6.5 


13.2 


11.3 


1.0 


8.6 




Quadroons Av. 






, . 


. . 


19.5 




, , 


. . 




. . 


A.D. 


, , 


^ , 


, , 


, , 


5.5 


, , 


, , 




, , 


, , 


Girls 






















Pure Av. 


, , 


, , 


12.7 


13.8 


16.4 


19.2 


23.0 


27.0 


^ , 


, ^ 


A.D. 






3.2 


4.4 


3.5 


4.5 


2.0 


9.4 




. , 


Three-Fourths Av. 






13.5 


15.4 


15.0 


22.6 


27.1 


22.5 


23.5 




A.D. 


, , 


, , 


1.3 


2.8 


4.7 


3.3 


4.1 


2.5 


4.5 


, ^ 


Mulattoes Av. 


12.0 


13.7 


15.1 


14.3 


21.0 


21.1 


22.7 


29.1 


22.5 


, ^ 


A.D. 


5.0 


3.2 


4.8 


4.5 


8.5 


5.4 


5.6 


6.1 


2.1 




Quadroons Av. 


, , 


18.6 


, , 


13.7 


21.0 


35.5 


24.6 


30.5 


27.7 


, , 


A.D. 




1.3 


^ , 


2.2 


7.0 


2.5 


4.6 


1.0 


3.2 




Poys — Pure and 


















\ 




Three-Fourths Av. 


, , 


8.7 


13.3 


14.0 


15.2 


11.1 


18.1 


27.0 


33.6 


30.6 


A.D. 


, ^ 


2.2 


2.3 


3.4 


6.0 


3.3 


3.5 


8.8 


.6 


2.6 


Mulattoes and 






















Quadroons Av. 




9.0 


13.2 


13.1 


16.8 


21.2 


23.6 


32.0 


29.0 


, . 


A.D. 


, , 


1.0 


2.5 


6.6 


6.1 


12.2 


11.3 


1.0 


8.6 


^ ^ 


Girls — Pure and 






















Three-Fourths Av. 




20.5 


13.2 


14.8 


15.5 


20.7 


26.2 


26.0 


22.6 




A.D. 


, , 


3.5 


1.8 


3.4 


4.2 


4.1 


3.7 


8.4 


4.2 


. . 


Mulattoes and 






















Quadroons Av. 


12.0 


15.8 


15.1 


14.2 


21.0 


23.3 


23.1 


29.5 


24.6 


29.0 


A.D. 


5.0 


3.1 


4.8 


3.9 


8.0 


6.5 


5.5 


4.7 


3.6 


0. 



TABLE XLV. 
Completion Test — Scores op Colored Subjects — Richmond — Classi- 
fied BY Racial Purity and Grades 



Grades 



Pure 


Av. 




A.D. 


Three-Fourths 


Av. 




A.D. 


Mulattoes 


Av. 




A.D. 


Quadroons 


Av. 




A.D. 


Pure and 




Three-Fourths 


Av. 




A.D. 


Mulattoes and 


[ 


Quadroons 


Av. 




A.D. 



5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 2B 3A 4A 

10.6 14.0 14.2 19.5 17.8 17.2 17.8 23.8 29.0 29.3 26.8 

2.4 1.4 3.7 2.0 5.2 3.7 4.3 4.4 4.0 7.6 9.7 
11.9 13.4 13.3 13.5 14.8 16.0 21.5 27.5 25.8 28.7 27.6 

5.5 3.0 3.7 2.5 4.2 5.2 5.6 5.8 5.2 3.7 2.0 
10.5 12.0 14.9 18.2 16.2 17.2 23.2 28.0 21.0 27.2 31.5 

3.6 2.7 4.9 4.0 3.7 4.0 8.7 6.8 4.3 5.7 5.6 
16.0 16.5 15.3 11.6 . . . . 26.2 28.5 24.6 30.0 29.3 

1.0 2.5 3.6 1.3 .. .. 2.2 7.0 2.6 2.0 .3 

11.2 13.6 13.8 16.5 16.0 16.5 19.4 26.2 26.7 29.0 27.1 

4.1 2.4 3.6 3.2 4.7 4.3 4.7 5.5 5.0 5.1 7.1 

11.0 12.6 15.0 16.5 16.2 16.5 24.2 28.1 21.7 28.1 31.0 

3.7 3.0 4.4 4.5 3.7 4.3 6.7 6.8 4.2 4.5 4.8 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 



107 



The percentages of negroes reaching or exceeding the aver- 
age score of the whites were as follows: Boys — Pure and 
three-fourths pure, 19.0; Mulattoes and quadroons, 44.S. 
Girls — Pure and three-fourths pure. 23.2; Mulattoes and 
quadroons, 31.5. Grades — Pure and three-fourths pure, 25.9; 
Mulattoes and quadroons, 27.9. 




A&E 



Fig. 22. Completion Test — Scores of Whites, Mulattoes and Quad- 
roons Combined, and Pure and Three-Fourths Negroes Combined — Boys 
— Richmond. 




WNfQP-TlW 
12 I 13 

23. Completion Test — Scores of Whites, Mulattoes and Quad- 
roons Combined, and Pure and Three-Fourths Negroes Combined — 
Girls — Richmond. 



Fig 




Fig. 24. Completion Test — Scores of Whites, Mulattoes and Quad- 
roons Combined, and Pure and Three-Fourths Negroes Combined- 
Grades — Richmond. 



108 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

If we average the percentages for boys, girls and grades, 
we find that the pure negroes scored 73.7 per cent, as high as 
the whites, the three-fourths pure negroes scored 77.8 per 
cent, as high, the mulattoes scored 81.3 per cent, as high, and 
the quadroons scored 94.0 per cent, as high as the whites. 
The pure and three-fourths pure negroes, combined, obtained 
75.4 per cent, of the white score; the mulattoes and quad- 
roons, combined, obtained 83.0 per cent, of the white score. 
In terms of the percentage of negroes reaching or exceeding 
the average of the whites, the results for boys, girls and 
grades are: Pure and three-fourths pure negroes, 22.7 per 
cent.; Mulattoes and quadroons, 34.7 per cent. 

TABLE XLVI. 

Completion Test — Difference Between Scores of the White and 
Each of the Four Classes of Colored Subjects, by Age and 

Sex — Richmond 
(Minus signs indicate greater scores by the colored subjects.) 
Ages 12 13 14 15 16 17 Av. P.E. 

Boys 

Pure 6.2 6.0 5.7 11.4 11.5 10.7 8.6 .9 

Three-Fourths 3.7 1.4 6.5 13.2 14.7 —5.6 5.6 2.0 

Mulattoes 5.5 7.3 5.7 2.7 7.1 —1.3 4.5 .9 

Pure 8.2 3.2 8.9 8.5 5.9 3.0 6.3 .8 

Three-Fourths 7.4 1.6 10.3 5.1 1.8 7.5 5.6 1.0 

Mulattoes 5.8 2.7 4.3 6.6 6.2 .9 4.4 .6 

Quadroons .. 3.3 4.3 —7.8 4.3 —.5 .7 1.5 

Boys 
Pure and 

Three-Fourths 5.4 4.7 6.0 12.3 12.6 3.7 7.4 1.2 
Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 5.5 5.6 4.4 2.2 7.1 —1.3 3.9 .8 

Girls 
Pure and 

Three-Fourths 7.7 2.2 9.8 7.0 2.7 4.0 5.6 .9 

Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 5.8 2.8 4.3 4.4 5.8 .5 3.9 .5 

TABLE XLVII. 

Completion Test — Difference Between Scores of the White and 
Each of the Four Classes of Colored Subjects, by Grades — 

Richmond 
(Minus signs indicate greater scores by the colored subjects.) 
Grades 5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 3A 4A Av.P.E. 



Pure 


2.7 


1.1 


3.4 3.0 


1.6 


8.4 


9.2 


6.7 


1.9 


7.7 


4.6 


.7 


Three-Fourths 


1.4 


1.7 


4.8 9.0 


4.6 


9.6 


5.5 


3.0 


2.5 


6.9 


4.8 


.6 


Mulattoes 


2.8 


3.1 


2.7 4.3 


3.2 


8.4 


3.8 


2.5 


4.0 


3.0 


3.8 


.3 


Quadroons 


—2.7 - 


-1.4 


2.3 10.9 






.8 


2.0 


1.2 


5.2 


2.3 


.9 


Pure and 
























Three-Fourths 


2.1 


1.5 


3.8 6.0 


3.4 


9.1 


7.6 


4.3 


2.2 


7.4 


4.7 


.6 


Mulattoes and 
























Quadroons 


2.3 


2.5 


2.6 6.0 


3.2 


9.1 


2.8 


2.4 


3.1 


3.5 


3.7 


.4 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 109 

TABLE XLVIII. 

Completion Test — Percentage of the Score of the White Obtained 

BY Each of the Four Classes of Colored Subjects, by Age and 

Sex — Richmond 

Ages 12 13 14 15 16 17 Av. P.E. 

Boys 

Pure 73 68 73 50 63 65 65.3 2.1 

Three-Fourths 81 93 69 43 53 118 76.2 7.3 

Mulattoes 71 62 73 88 77 104 79.2 3.8 

Pure 61 81 64 70 80 90 74.3 3.2 

Three-Fourths 65 91 59 82 94 75 77.7 3.8 

Mulattoes 72 84 83 76 79 97 81.8 2.1 

Quadroons .. 81 83 128 85 102 95.8 5.7 

Boys 

Pure and Three-Fourths 72 75 71 47 59 88 68.7 3.5 

Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 71 71 79 90 77 104 82.0 3.5 

Pure and Three-Fourths 63 87 61 75 91 87 77.3 3.8 
Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 72 84 83 84 80 98 83.5 1.8 

TABLE XLIX. 

Completion Test — Percentage of the Score of the White Obtained 

BY Each of the Four Classes of Colored Subjects, by 

Grades — Richmond 

Grades 5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 3A 4A Av. P.E. 

Pure 79 93 81 86 92 68 66 78 94 77 81.4 2.0 

Three-Fourths 89 89 76 59 76 63 80 90 92 80 79.4 2.3 

Mulattoes 78 79 85 80 83 68 86 92 87 91 82.9 1.3 

Quadroons 121 109 87 50 .. .. 97 93 96 85 92.2 4.2 
Pure and 

Three-Fourths 84 90 79 73 82 65 72 86 93 78 80.2 1.7 
Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 82 83 86 73 83 65 90 92 90 90 83.4 1.6 

TABLE L. 

Completion Test — Percentage op Each op Two Classes of Colored 

Subjects Reaching or Exceeding the Average op the White, 

by Age and Sex and by Grades — Richmond 

Ages 12 13 14 15 16 17 Av. P.E. 

Bovs — Pure and 

Three-Fourths 17 18 36 43 19.0 4.9 

Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 12 37 33 50 37 100 44.8 7.0 

Girls — Pure and 

Three-Fourths 57 9 7 22 44 23.2 6.3 

Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 25 30 28 31 25 50 31.5 2.0 

Grades 5A 5B 6A 6B 7A 7B lA 2A 3A 4A 

Pure and 

Three-Fourths 25 39 14 12 33 10 29 57 40 25.9 3.6 
Mulattoes and 

Quadroons 41 27 29 17 29 43 29 44 20 27.9 2.4 



110 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

It is evident that the results from the completion test show 
the same general standing for the four classes of negroes 
that was brought out by the mixed relations test: the sub- 
jects with the greater amount of white blood were superior. 
And the size of the probable errors, particularly in the case 
of the two-division classification, renders the results reliable. 

The standing of the various classes of negroes in the mixed 
relations tests, I and II, and in the completion test may be 
averaged. When this is done the figures show that the pure 
negroes scored 69.2 per cent, as high as whites; that the 
three-fourths pure negroes scored 73.2 per cent, as high as 
whites; that the mulattoes scored 81.2 per cent, as high as 
whites; and that the quadroons obtained 91.8 per cent, 
of the white score. The pure and three-fourths pure negroes, 
combined, obtained 70.8 per cent, of the score of the white 
subjects; the mulattoes and quadroons, combined, obtained 
83.6 per cent, of the score of the whites. 

This suggests that it is sometimes questioned as to how far 
external appearances are indicative of racial purity. It is 
held that a certain proportion of the offspring of mixed races 
will not show the blood characteristics which their heredity 
would seem to warrant. This may be true, and the Mendelian 
laws of inheritance may furnish a basis for such variation. 
But in the main, children conform closely to the character- 
istics of their parents in all respects, and such variations as 
occur will offset each other in any considerable number of 
persons, and leave the group type predominant. Certainly 
the results here obtained indicate that the correlation between 
skin color and racial purity is high. 

There was apparently nothing except native racial ability 
that could bring about the results found herein for the differ 
ent classes of negroes. It is possible, indeed, that the lighter 
negroes were of a better social class than the darker. But if 
this was true, it must be that the mixed bloods attained to a 
better social standing because of their greater capacity. For 
among negroes in general there are no considerable social dis- 
tinctions based on color. A colored person is a colored person, 
whether he be mulatto or negro, and all mingle together as 
one race. Pyle, in a quotation previously given, reports that 
of the negroes tested by him, those of better social class made 
higher scores. And it would not be surprising if it were 
found that mulattoes constituted the bulk of the superior 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. HI 

social class, and only a minority of the inferior class. It 
would be surprising, in view of the results found here, if it 
were otherwise. But any such distribution should be ascribed 
to the greater inherent capacity of negroes of lighter skin. 

No social or material gulf, such as that which separates the 
white and colored races in this country, is to be found among 
the negroes themselves. Such distinctions as there are, and 
however based, are very minor as compared with the great 
inter-racial distinction. And to a marked degree the general 
environment of colored children is the same for all. With no 
great variations, they all attend the same schools, live in the 
same neighborhoods, grow up in the same home surroundings, 
share the same cultural advantages, meet the same opportuni- 
ties, undergo the same experiences. They live almost in a 
world of their own, which is but one stratum or level of our 
mixed society. This is particularly true of the selected group 
of negroes found in the upper grades of the schools. And yet 
the differences, as revealed by the mental tests, between the 
pure negroes and the mulattoes, on the one hand, and the mu- 
lattoes and the whites, on the other, are not unlike in amount. 
The mulattoes who, with the pure negroes, live in the com- 
paratively uniform colored environment, which is so greatly 
different from the white environment, are yet almost as near 
to the whites as to the pure negroes when put to psychological 
tests. This fact becomes especially noteworthy when it is 
considered that the greater number of mulattoes are probably 
descended from an inferior element among the whites, and 
probably from an inferior element among the negroes also. 

Such considerations indicate that it is a native ability and 
not an acquired capacity that differentiates the mixed and the 
pure negroes, and that skin color is its outward sign. They 
also indicate that the tests used are primarily tests of native 
capacity, and that consequently the differences found between 
whites and negroes as a whole are innate differences. 

Comparative Variabilities 

In recent years a number of writers have called attention 
to the importance of differences in the variability of groups 
from their central tendencies. It is pointed out that two 
groups, as two races or two sexes, may be of the same aver- 
age capacity, but that if one of these groups is more variable 
than the other, certain significant differences will appear. 



112 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

The more variable group will produce a greater number of 
individuals of very high capacity and also a greater number 
of very low capacity; within the less variable group there 
will be more conformity to the group type and less diver- 
gence toward the extremes. In the former case there will be 
a greater number of geniuses and of moral heroes than in the 
latter, and also a greater number of idiots and of moral de- 
generates. This will result in marked differences in the rela- 
tive attainments of the groups as wholes. Progress depends 
upon the few who stand out from the crowd and invent new 
and better ways of doing things. The few conceive and the 
many appropriate their conceptions, in all realms of human 
activity. In mechanical and material progress, in science, in 
art, in literature, in religion, in politics, it is the geniuses 
who make progress possible. And it follows that a variable 
group, other things being equal, will achieve a higher type 
of civilization than one which is less variable. 

In discussing this matter, Woodworth writes as follows: 
"The distribution of a trait is for some purposes more im- 
portant than the average. Let us suppose, for instance, that 
two groups were the same in their average mental ability, 
but that one group showed little variation, all of its mem- 
bers being much alike and of nearly the average intelligence, 
while the other group showed great variability, ranging be- 
tween the extremes of idiocy and genius. It is evident that 
the two groups, though equal on the average, would be very 
unequal in dealing with a situation which demanded great 
mental ability. One master mind could supply ideas for the 
guidance of the group, and his value would far outweigh the 
load of simpletons which the group must carry." ('10, p. 2). 

Thomdike ('10) writes to the same effect. He claims that 
men are more variable than women, and that on this account 
the greater part of the genius and the stupidity of the world 
is found among men. In discussing racial capacity, he says: 
"The comparison in variability is, as in the case of the sexes, 
of great practical importance. The ability of a hundred of 
its most gifted representatives often counts more for a na- 
tion's or a race's welfare than the ability of a million of its 
mediocrities." '10, pp. 53-54). 

While the importance of variability is thus recognized, 
there is as yet very little evidence bearing upon the relative 
variability of diffrent races. In summing up the psychologi- 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 113 

cal results available in 1910, Wood worth wrote as follows: 
"The dead level of intelligence, which is sometimes supposed 
to obtain among backward races, is not borne out by psycho- 
logical tests, since individual differences are abundantly found 
among all races, and, indeed, the variability of different groups 
seems, from these tests, to be about on a par." ('10, p. 15). 
Hrdlicka ('98) and Le Bon ('98), as quoted in Chapter I, 
claim that in physical traits whites are more variable than 
negroes. Strong ('13) states, as previously quoted, that the 
lighter-colored negroes among the 122 tested by her were 
more variable than those of darker color. Mayo, after dis- 
cussing the variabihty of whites and negroes, writes as follows 
concerning the groups studied by him: "In our own study of 
the two groups of high school pupils, however, the fact of 
greater racial mental variability is not at all pronounced, 
though the whites were slighly more variable. The average 
deviation of the white group from their mean scholastic at- 
tainment was 7, while that of the colored group was 6.5." 
('13, p. 69). In addition to the somewhat inconclusive find- 
ings of these writers, there do not seem to be any reliable 
measurements bearing upon the problem. 

At present we have no good method of measuring the vari- 
ability of groups. Of course the actual variabihties may be 
compared in such terms as the average deviation or the 
probable error. But this will be misleading if the groups 
differ considerably in their standing in the capacity in ques- 
tion. A higher average standing generally implies a greater 
average deviation. If an average score of 30 has an average 
deviation of 10, an average score of 20 in the same trait will 
have a smaller deviation. The actual size of the deviations 
must therefore be considered in connection with the size of 
the average scores. 

In order to overcome this difficulty, Pearson has proposed 
that the deviations should be divided by the group averages 
before a comparison is made. But this procedure is open to 
the objection that it is not certain that deviations vary in 
proportion to the size of the central tendencies from which 
they are derived. There is reason to believe that they more 
nearly vary in proportion to the size of the square roots of 
the central tendencies. Accordingly Thorndike ('04) has 
suggested that actual variabilities should be divided by the 



114 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

square roots of averages rather than by the averages them- 
selves. 

Since there is thus no single reliable measure of variability, 
our procedure in the following comparisons will be to set 
forth the average deviations, the Pearson coefficients, i.e., 
the deviations divided by the averages, and the Thorndike co- 
efficients, i.e., the deviations divided by the square roots of 
the averages. And since none of these methods is wholly 
free from objection, the average of all three is presented in 
each case as a combined coefficient. 

The variabilities are given in this manner for the various 
classes of colored subjects in terms of percentages of the 
variability of white subjects of the same ages or grades. 
The variability of the whites is therefore to be considered 
as 100 in all cases. The figures for the separate ages and 
grades are omitted for the sake of brevity, and only the aver- 
ages of the different ages and grades are presented. The 
actual deviations from which the figures are derived are 
shown in the tables in this and the foregoing chapters which 
set forth the scores. Only the Richmond pupils are treated 
in the comparisons. 

Table 51 shows the relative variabilities of the different 
classes of subjects in the age at which they reached the school 
grades studied. From the averages it appears that the pure 
negroes, the three-fourths negroes, the mulattoes and the 
quadroons were 66, 91, 87 and 74 per cent., respectively, as 
variable as the whites; that the pure and three-fourths ne- 
groes combined and the mulattoes and quadroons combined 
were, respectively, 83 and 95 per cent, as variable as the 
whites; and that the colored pupils of all classes combined 







TABLE LI. 








Ages — Variability of the Colored 


Subjects in 


Percentages of 


THE 


Variability of ' 


fhe White — Richmond- 


-By 


Grades 








Average 


Pearson 


Thorndike 








Deviation 


Coefficient 


Coefficient 


Av. 


Pure Negroes 




68 


65 




66 


66 


Three-Fourths 




92 


90 




91 


91 


Mulattoes 




88 


86 




87 


87 


Quadroons 




74 


74 




74 


74 


Pure and Three-Fourths 


85 


81 




82 


83 


Mulattoes and 


Quadroons 


96 


94 




95 


95 


AH colored 




90 


87 




89 


89 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 115 

had 89 per cent, of the white variability. The average devia- 
tions, the Pearson and the Thorndike coefficients all give 
practically the same result: the negroes were less variable 
than the whites. 

The uniform behavior of the figures for age variability is 
in contrast with the more uncertain nature of those which 
show the variability of the scores in the tests. Tables 52-55 
make the test comparisons. Relying upon the averages, it 
appears that the pure negro boys are 72, 106 and 63 per cent, 
as variable as the white boys in the Mixed Relations Test I, 
the Mixed Relations Test II and the completion test, respec- 
tively ; that the pure negro girls are 104, 98 and 84 per cent. 
as variable as the white girls in these respective tests; and 
that the pure negroes when compared by grades are 85, 85 
and 89 per cent, as variable as the whites in these tests. The 
figures which show the relative variability of the three-fourths 
pure negroes in the three tests, in the order mentioned, are 
as follows: Boys— 69, 86 and 82 per cent.; Girls— 101, 88 and 
56 per cent. ; Grades — 99, 110 and 85 per cent. The relative 
variability of the mulattoes in the three tests is: Boys — 90, 
87 and 115 per cent.; Girls— 123, 104 and 102 per cent.; 
Grades — 109, 102 and 100 per cent. The percentages for the 
quadroons are: Girls — 118, 84 and 57; Grades — 69, 44 and 
47. These figures are not subject to any sure interpreta- 
tion. But it appears to be very probable that the pure and 
the three-fourths pure negroes are less variable than whites, 
and that the quadroons are also less variable. The com- 
paratively small number of quadroons, however, may be a 
factor here. The mulattoes appear to have a variability as 
great as that of the whites. 





TABLE : 


LII. 








Mixed Relations Test- 
Percentages OF THE 


-Variability 
Variability 


OF 
OF 


the 

THE 


Colored Subjects 
White — Richmond 


IN 


Boys 

Pure Negroes 

Three-Fourths 

Mulattoes 


Test ] 

Average 
Deviation 

54 

58 

79 


[. 

Pearson Thorndike 

Coefficient Coefficient 

92 71 

81 68 

101 90 


Av. 
72 
69 
90 


Pure and Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes and Quadroons 


65 
89 




106 
107 


82 
97 


84 
98 


All colored 

Girls 

Pure Negroes 


90 
85 




124 
125 


106 
103 


107 
104 



116 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 



Three-Fourths 

Mulattoes 

Quadroons 

Pure and Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes and Quadroons 

All colored 

Grades 

Pure Negroes 

Three-Fourths 

Mulattoes 

Quadroons 

Pure and Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes and Quadroons 



All Colored 89 114 

Test II. 
Boys 

Pure Negroes 84 130 

Three-Fourths 68 106 

Mulattoes 78 96 

Pure and Three-Fourths 85 135 

Mulattoes and Quadroons 92 105 

All Colored 101 128 

Girls 

Pure Negroes 78 120 

Three-Fourths 73 104 

Mulattoes 92 117 

Quadroons 81 87 

Pure and Three-Fourths 83 120 

Mulattoes and Quadroons 86 107 

All Colored 89 114 

Grades 

Pure Negroes 72 99 

Three-Fourths 93 129 

Mulattoes 91 115 

Quadroons 40 48 

Pure and Three-Fourths 85 117 

Mulattoes and Quadroons 84 105 

All Colored 87 115 



Average 
Deviation 


Pearson 
Coefficient 


Thomdike 
Coefficient 


Av. 


85 
114 
117 


118 
131 

118 


100 
123 
118 


101 
123 
118 


88 
114 


121 

128 


103 

121 


104 
121 


103 


123 


112 


113 


72 
86 
98 
64 


98 
114 
120 

73 


84 

98 

109 

69 


85 

99 

109 

69 


81 
J 94 


111 
112 


95 
103 


96 
103 



102 



104 
85 
86 

108 
99 

114 

96 

88 

104 

84 

100 
96 

101 

85 
109 
101 

44 

100 
95 

100 



102 



106 
86 

87 

109 
99 

114 

98 

88 

104 

84 

101 
96 

101 

85 
110 
102 

44 

101 
95 

101 



TABLE LIU. 

Completion Test — Variability op the Colored Subjects in Per- 
centages OP the Variability of the White — Richmond 



Boys 

Pure Negroes 
Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes 



Average 
Deviation 
50 

71 
102 



Pearson 
Coefficient 
77 
94 
129 



Thomdike 
Coefficient 

62 

82 
114 



Av. 
63 
82 

115 



Pure and Three-Fourths 



68 



98 



82 



83 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 



117 







Average 
Deviation 


Pearson 
Coefficient 


Thorndike 
Coefficient 


Av. 


Mulattoes and 


Quadroons 


100 


121 


111 


Ill 


All Colored 

Girls 

Pure Negroes 

Three-Fourths 

Mulattoes 

Quadroons 




85 

71 
49 
92 
56 


109 

97 

63 

113 

57 


97 

83 

56 

102 

57 


97 

84 

56 

102 

57 


Pure and Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes and Quadroons 


68 
89 


89 
106 


78 
98 


78 
98 


All Colored 

Grades 

Pure Negroes 

Three-Fourths 

Mulattoes 

Quadroons 




71 

80 
75 
91 
45 


89 

98 

95 

109 

49 


81 

89 

84 
100 

47 


80 

89 

85 

100 

47 


Pure and Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes and Quadroons 


82 
84 


102 
100 


93 
93 


92 
92 



All Colored 



84 



102 



93 



93 



TABLE LIV. 

Maze Test — Variability of the Colored Subjects in Percentages 
OP the Variability of the White — Richmond 



Average Pearson Thorndike 

Deviation Coefficient Coefficient 



Av. 



Boys— All Colored 










Touches 


87 


126 


104 


106 


Distance 


91 


109 


100 


100 


Girls— All Colored 










Touches 


105 


174 


136 


138 


Distance 


121 


153 


136 


137 


Grades — All Colored 










Touches 


82 


118 


100 


100 


Distance 


91 


105 


100 


99 



TABLE LV. 

Cancellation Test — Variability of the Colored Subjects in Per- 
centages OF THE Variability of the White — Richmond 



Average Pearson Thorndike 

Deviation Coefficient Coefficient 



Av. 



Boys — All Colored 










Omissions 


172 


89 


122 


128 


Cancellations 


103 


105 


104 


104 


Girls — All Colored 










Omissions 


153 


113 


133 


133 


Cancellations 


127 


118 


120 


120 


Grades — All Colored 










Omissions 


167 


106 


133 


135 


Cancellations 


103 


94 


98 


98 



118 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

The combined pure and three-fourths pure negroes, when 
compared with whites, have relative variabilities as follows 
in the Mixed Relations Test I, the Mixed Relations Test II and 
the completion test, respectively: Boys — 84, 109 and 83 per 
cent.; Girls — 104, 101 and 78 per cent.; Grades — 96, 101 and 

92 per cent. The figures for the combined mulattoes and 
quadroons show that they have the following relative varia- 
bilities in the three tests: Boys — 98, 99 and 111 per cent.; 
Girls— 121, 96 and 98 per cent. ; Grades— 103, 95 and 92 per 
cent. It is thus probable that the mulattoes and quadroons 
are slightly more variable than the pure and three-fourths 
pure negroes, but here again the results are not certain. Both 
classifications appear to have not far from the white varia- 
bility. 

When all classes of negroes are grouped together and com- 
pared with whites, they show the following relative variabili- 
ties in the three tests mentioned: Boys — 107, 114 and 97 per 
cent. ; Girls — 113, 101 and 80 per cent. ; Grades — 102, 101 and 

93 per cent. The colored subjects as a whole had a greater 
rather than a less variability than the white. 

This last statement is reinforced by the figures from the 
maze and cancellation tests. In the maze test, the colored 
boys were 106 and 100 per cent, as variable as the white boys 
in touches and distance respectively; the colored girls were 
138 and 137 per cent, as variable as the white girls in touches 
and distance; the colored grades were 100 and 99 per cent. 
as variable as the white in touches and distance. In the can- 
cellation test, the figures showing the relative colored varia- 
bility in omissions and cancellations, respectively, were: 
Boys — 128 and 104 per cent.; Girls — 133 and 120 per cent.; 
Grades — 135 and 98 per cent. The negroes in these tests 
were more variable than the whites, all classes of colored sub- 
jects being grouped together. 

In addition to these figures from Tables 52-55, attention 
should be called to those in Tables 39-43 and 46-50 as indica^ 
tions of the relative variability of the different sub-classes 
of negroes. These tables give the probable errors of the 
scores made by the various classes of negroes when compared 
with whites. The probable errors show a marked uniformity 
in being smaller for the darker^colored negroes and larger for 
those of lighter color. That is, they show that in the case 
of the darker negroes the separate age and grade groups va- 
ried less with respect to their own average difference from 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 119 

corresponding white age and grade groups. Now this greater 
constancy among the differences for the separate ages and 
grades of darker negroes might have been due to chance if it 
had occurred only infrequently. For example, if the scores 
of four white grades are 40, 50, 40 and 50, and the scores of 
four corresponding colored grades are 20, 30, 20 and 30, the 
differences between these grades will be 20, 20, 20 and 20, and 
the probable error will be zero. But if the four corresponding 
colored grades have scores of 30, 20, 30 and 20, the differences 
will be 10, 30, 10 and 30, and the probable error will be 5. The 
actual scores and the actual average differences are the same 
in the two cases, but a chance arrangement in the correspon- 
dence of the scores alters the probable errors. And if the 
difference from the whites of first the lighter and then the 
darker negroes had the smaller probable error, we could at- 
tach no significance to the fact. But the smaller probable 
error in the case of the darker-colored negroes occurs with a 
uniformity which cannot be ascribed to chance. And we must 
suppose that it is due to a greater constancy in the scores 
of the individuals within the darker age and grade groups 
themselves. This greater constancy of the individual scores 
would be reflected in the greater constancy of the separate 
group scores and hence in the smaller probable error of such 
scores. And consequently we have a further indication of the 
smaller variability of the negroes of comparatively pure 
blood. 

On the whole, it appears that the pure negroes, the three- 
fourths pure negroes and the quadroons varied less than did 
the whites ; that the mulattoes did not differ from the whites 
in variability ; that the combined pure and three-fourths pure 
negroes and the combined mulattoes and quadroons had not 
far from white variability, and that the latter class varied 
slightly more than did the former; that the colored subjects 
of all classes together had a greater variability than the white. 
But these conclusions are only approximately certain. The 
average coefficients upon which they are based are not uni- 
form in their import, and the separate coefficients taken by 
themselves are not more so. If we consider only the actual 
variabilities, the white are clearly more variable than the col- 
ored subjects, except in the cancellation test, and the sub- 
classes of negroes, particularly those of darker color, are 
much less variable than the negroes as a whole. It is in- 
teresting to note that the colored girls had generally a greater 



120 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 



variability than the colored boys when compared with whites. 
Figures 25-28 are inserted to show graphically the relative 
distribution of the two races in one test — ^the completion. 
This distribution is fairly typical of that found in the other 
tests. All classes of negroes are included. In the graphs 
the boys and girls are treated separately, but the elementary 
pupils are grouped together, as are the high school pupils. 



Score O 




r n /6 ^o 2v 7r sx 36 ^/o ^y ^t sc 



Fig. 25. Completion Test — Distribution of the Scores of White and 
Colored Subjects — Grammar-Grade Boys — Richmond. 

The solid and the broken lines indicate the scores of the white and 
the colored subjects, respectively. 



Pet. 
20 





Score. 



J: 



V ^ /2 



i — i ^ 



Fig. 26. Completion Test — Distribution of the Scores of White and 
Colored Subjects — Grammar-Grade Girls — Richmond. 



COMPARISON OF SUB-CLASSES OF NEGROES. 



121 



Pet. 

IX 
% 





"~ 


'*'*i 






1 




_r^— 


• 


1 1 


1 


I _J 


1 
1 






1 

• 



■"^ ^-. 



Score O V ^ 12 JL 20 7i 28- 32 3C "/O Hf "/S- Cro 

Fig. 27. Completion Test — Distribution of the Scores of White and 
Colored Subjects — High School Boys — Richmond. 



Ptt. 

20 

fC 

a 

S 

H 




u^a 



Scon O V ? 12 U 20 2"/ 2» 32 3^ V^ VV ^-^ 50 



Fig. 28. Completion Test — Distribution of the Scores of White and 
Colored Subjects — High School Girls — Richmond. 

This procedure is permissible on the ground that within 
either the elementary or the high school grades tested the 
pupils do not differ significantly from age to age, as was 
shown in Chapter III. The number of pupils obtaining a 
given score was in all cases reduced to a percentage of the 
total number in the distribution. 

From the graphs it appears that the white elementary boys 
and the white elementary girls are probably more variable 
than the colored, but that the colored subjects, particularly 
the boys, are probably the more variable in the high school. 
But no certain conclusion as to racial variability can be 
reached. It appears more certain that the boys are more 
variable than the girls. Incidentally, attention may be called 
to the comparison of racial ability revealed by the graphs. 
They make plain the extensive overlapping of the scores of 
the whites and negroes. Even where there is a great differ- 



122 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

ence between the average scores of the two races and where 
only a small percentage of the negroes reaches or exceeds the 
average of the whites, the overlapping is great and should 
not be overlooked. 

It may finally be remarked with regard to the relative vari- 
ability of whites and negroes, that it would not be at all sur- 
prising if groups of so-called negroes were definitely shown to 
be more variable than comparable groups of whites. For the 
groups that are generally called negroes are composed of in- 
dividuals ranging from pure negroes to persons almost white, 
and it would be reasonable to suppose that such groups would 
vary more than would homogeneous white groups. They are 
not composed of one race but of two. Of course it may be 
that the variability of the negro race falls entirely within 
the extremes of variability of the white, but this would not 
offset the greater average deviation that would be caused by 
the relative tendency to bi-modality, or at least to flatness 
of distribution, in a mixed negro and mulatto group. This 
consideration should be taken into account in all studies of 
the variability of whites and negroes. It would be interest- 
ing and useful to know whether colored people, negroes and 
mulattoes together, vary as much as do whites. But this 
information would not inform us as to the relative variability 
of the white and negro races. 



CHAPTER V. 
CONCLUSION 

By way of summary of the various considerations which 
have come to light in this study, we may say that the average 
performance of the colored population of this country in such 
intellectual work as that represented by the tests of higher 
capacity, appears to be only about three-fourths as efficient 
as the performance of whites of the name amount of trainings' 
It is probable, indeed, that this estimate is too high rather 
than too low. The groups of whites and negroes studied are 
not typical of the white and colored populations in general; 
their ability is undoubtedly considerably above the average. 
But the negroes were probably farther above their racial av- 
erage than were the whites. If one were to test the capacity of 
the unselected masses of negroes, with their much smaller per- 
centage of white blood, and make a comparison with unselect- 
ed masses of whites, the results would almost certainly reveal 
greater racial differences than those found herein. 

All of the experimental work which has been done has 
pointed to the same general conclusion. The bulk of it has 
shown a greater racial difference than that found in Rich- 
mond, and has been more comparable in its results with the 
findings recorded for Fredicksburg and Newport News. The 
opinions of the great majority of those who have come into 
contact with the negro, and the views of nearly all of those 
who have studied the question from standpoints other than 
experimental, are in substantial agreement with the quantita- 
tive evidence. 

In the present state of the advancement of science it does 
not seem possible to make adequate tests of those vastly im- 
portant qualities which are included in the feeling and dy- 
namic, rather than in the intellectual, side of mental life. It 
is the common opinion that the negro differs more from the 
white in such traits than in intellect proper. His emotions 
are generally believed to be strong and volatile in their mani- 

123 



124 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

f estations ; whether this is due to their intrinsic nature or to a 
lack of restraint, is an untouched problem. Instability of 
character is ascribed to the negro, involving a lack of fore- 
sight, an improvidence, a lack of persistence, small power of 
serious initiative, a tendency to be content with immediate 
satisfactions, deficient ambition. But the evidence that such 
characteristics constitute a true racial difference cannot be 
called conclusive, and the psychological causes underlying 
them have not been adequately investigated. Along with 
high emotionality and instability of character, defective mo- 
rality is held to be a negro characteristic. This is as subject 
to debate as are the other qualities, though it is apparently 
supported by social statistics.* It may be that the total cir- 
cumstances of his life are such as would lead to immorality 
even were the negro possessed of the psychic nature of the 
white man. 

On the other hand, while it is impossible to arrive at an 
exact knowledge of the relative amounts of such important 
but intangible traits in the two races, it must be said that the 
evidence of experience and observation cannot be disregarded. 
Such evidence is often wholly unscientific and worthless, but 
not always so. Strong and changing emotions, an improvi- 
dent character and a tendency to immoral conduct are not 
unallied. They are all rooted in uncontrolled impulse. And a 
factor which may tend to produce all three is a deficient de- 
velopment of the more purely intellectual capacities. Where 
the implications of ideas are not apprehended, where thought 
is not lively and fertile, where meanings and consequences 
are not grasped, the need for the control of impulse will not 
be felt. And the demonstrable deficiency of the negro in in- 
tellectual traits may involve the dynamic deficiencies which 
common opinion claims to exist. 

The available evidence indicates that in the so-called lower 
traits there is no great difference between the negro and the 
white. In motor capacity there is probably no appreciable 

*Statistics concerning the sexual immorality, as indicated by ille- 
gitimate births, of whites and negroes in the District of Columbia have 
recently been published by Ottenberg ('15). In 1912 and 1913 the total 
of all births reported to the Health Department was 13,910, of which 
number 1374, or approximately 10 per cent, were illegitimate. There 
were four times as many illegitimate births of colored as of white chil- 
dren reported, and yet the colored population was only about one-half 
as large as the white. Statistics showing the very much larger per- 
centage of negroes than of whites convicted of crime are too well known 
to require quotation here. 



CONCLUSION. 125 

racial difference. In sense capacity, in perceptive and dis- 
criminative ability, there is likewise a practical equality. It 
is in the central elaborative powers upon which thought more 
directly depends that differences exist, not in the simpler re- 
ceptive and discharging functions. %t seems as though the 
white type has attained a level of higher development, based 
upon the common elementary capacities, which the negro has 
not reached to the same degree".; From the nature of the men- 
tal differences, one would infer that such neural differences 
as may be found will probably be mainly in the constitution 
of the cortical neurones, rather than elsewhere in the nervous 
system. 

While the intellectual performance of the general colored 
population is approximately 75 per cent, as efficient as that of 
whites, this figure is not true for different classes of negroes. 
It is probably correct to say that pure negroes, negroes three- 
fourths pure, mulattoes and quadroons have, roughly, 60, 70, 
80 and 90 per cent., respectively, of white intellectual effici- 
ency. If it were possible to distinguish these four classes of 
negroes so accurately as to avoid overlapping, it is probable 
that the differences revealed by tests would be greater rather 
than less than those indicated by the figures. 

The educational significance of the available facts is difficult 
to determine. The negro's intellectual deficiency is regis- 
tered in the retardation percentages of the schools as well as 
in mental tests. /'And in view of all the evidence it does not 
seem possible to Vaise the scholastic attainment of the negro 
to an equality with that of the whitei It is probable that no 
expenditure of time or of money would accomplish this end, 
since education cannot create mental power, but can only de- 
velop that which is innate. 

The movement toward industrial education for the negro 
finds sanction in the studies of his psychology. Without 
great ability in the processes of abstract thought, the negro 
is yet very capable in the sensory and motor powers which 
are involved in manual work. And economy would indicate 
that training should be concentrated upon those capacities 
which promise the best return for the educative effort ex- 
pended. Social conditions, of course, have been the main in- 
centive to the growth of industrial education among negroes, 



126 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

and in themselves they are sufficient reason for emphasiz- 
ing an intensely practical training. But the mental nature 
of the negro gives reason for believing that this sort of edu- 
cation is the only one which will avoid great waste. Dimin- 
ishing educational returns will be more serious in the intel- 
lectual than in the industrial education of the negro. 

There is need of experiment to determine the relative ability 
of colored and white persons in the intelligent handling of 
concrete materials. All of the experiments so far undertaken 
have dealt with thought material as represented by words 
rather than by objects. Tests which involve mechanical ma- 
nipulations have not been tried. It is possible that reasoning 
based upon objects present to sense may not correlate highly 
with reasoning based upon the mental representations of ob- 
jects, and that the negro may therefore more nearly approach 
the white in the former than he does in the latter sort of 
thinking. The writer expects to undertake a series of experi- 
ments upon the comparative intellectual ability of the two 
races in mechanical tests, and if the difference between them 
is less than that revealed by tests of a more literary nature, 
additional sanction will be given to the reasonableness of in- 
dustrial education. 

But while it thus appears that for the colored population 
as a whole a manual is more practicable than a literary educa- 
tion, it must not be overlooked that there are individual col- 
ored persons of great ability. The widely held doctrine that 
the negro's mental growth comes to a comparative standstill 
at adolescence does not find corroboration in the results of 
tests. The groups so far tested, indeed, show that after 
adolescence the negro more nearly approachs the white than 
before. This is probably due to the fact that the adoles- 
cent negroes tested are a more closely selected group 
than those who have not reached adolescence. The adolescent 
negroes in the schools have more white blood in them. And 
racial differences at adolescence may exist in the feeling and 
dynamic sides of mental life, which have not been tested. If 
there are such differences they will most likely appear just 
here. But so far as has been demonstrated, the negro's intel- 
lectual development proceeds as rapidly after puberty as does 
that of the white. Then, too, the variability of the negroes 
and the overlapping of ability in the two races, make it neces- 
sary to expect very able colored persons to be found in every 



CONCLUSION. 127 

large group. In the main, the most capable colored individ- 
uals will be mulattoes, although there are fewer mulattoes 
than pure negroes. 

' v^ince comparisons between races are frequently made in 
terms of the number of eminent men produced by each, it is 
interesting to make a rough computation as to the number of 
pure negroes, mulattoes and whites that may be expected to 
demonstrate great ability in the United States. This com- 
putation lays no claim to other than approximate validity. 
It is based upon the "law of deviation from an average" as 
employed by Francis Galton ('92, p. 22 ff.), and in making it 
the variability of each class of the population is considered as 
being the same. Of course, if the variability of pure negroes 
is less than that of whites, as is probable, the number of very 
able negroes will be less than is indicated by the following 
figures. 

We may take as our standard of eminence the one chosen 
by Galton, viz., attainment so great that it is reached by only 
one man in 4300. In each million men there are 248 persons 
of this standing. Now there are approximately 18,000,000 
white men, 1,600,000 pure negro men and 400,000 men who 
are mulattoes in this country. Consequently, if all three 
classes have the same ability, there will be 4464 eminent 
white men, 397 eminent pure negroes and 99 eminent mulat- 
toes. 

But if we assume that pure negroes average 75 per cent, 
of white ability and that mulattoes average 87.5 per cent, of 
white ability, we find the following situation growing out of 
the law of deviation from an average.* In a million of each 
class of men, there will be 248 whites, 15 mulattoes and 1 
l^ure negro who will attain the above-mentioned degree of 
eminence. Considering the number of these three classes 

*To carry out the computation based upon this assumption it is neces- 
sary to postulate a zero point of ability, and the capacity of the lowest 
idiot is taken as this zero point. That this may be done without violence 
to the facts is indicated by the descriptions of idiocy given in works on 
mental deficiency. Thus Tredgold ('08) writes of profound idiots that 
their brief existence may almost be called vegetative. They are devoid 
of instincts, they lie huddled in an ante-natal posture, food must be 
placed in their mouths, and their life activities hardly extend beyond 
respiration, assimilation and excretion. "They have eyes, but they see 
not; ears, but they hear not; they have no intelligence and no conscious- 
ness of pleasure or pain; in fact, their mental state is one entire nega- 
tion." ('08, p. 171). 



128 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

in the total population, there will be 4464 eminent whites, 
6 eminent mulattoes and 2 eminent negroes in the United 
States. 

These figures are suggestive. If we take it that there are 
4464 eminent white men in America, there are certainly not 
397 pure negroes and 99 mulattoes of the same degree of 
eminence. There are more nearly 6 mulattoes and 2 pure 
negroes to 4464 eminent whites. Definite figures are not ob- 
tainable, but such lists of men of achievement as have been 
compiled accord with the latter set of figures far more closely 
than with the former. 

Of course it may be held that social conditions make it im- 
possible for colored ability to assert itself. There may be 
potentially eminent men among the negroes who are not able 
to attain their commensurate achievement on account of en- 
vironmental conditions. On the other hand, it may be said 
that the best opinion, as that of Galton, holds that eminence 
is independent of circumstance; that innate power can be 
neither crushed nor created by adverse or favorable influences. 
And it may be further contended that ability among negroes 
is all the more readily recognized just because of their gen- 
erally low level of racial attainment. A man of mark among 
them stands out becauuse of his rarity, and his opportunities 
are increased because of this recognition. 

As an indication of the greater ability of mulattoes than 
of pure negroes, it may be remarked that such lists as we 
have of colored leaders, e.g., those quoted in Chapters I and 
IV, show a larger proportion of men of mixed than of unmixed 
blood. And this despite the fact that there are probably 
four times as many pure negroes as mulattoes in the country. 

Although the available facts are very few and inexact, such 
as they are they serve to justify rather than to controvert 
the deductions from the law of variability. And in so far as 
the deductions are borne out, the assumed racial inequality 
upon which they are based is confirmed. 

There are few more controversial subjects than that of the 
outlook for the negro race in America, and it is not within 
the province of this monograph to attempt a discussion of 
the topic. But it may not be out of place to mention certain 
considerations that have presented themselves. Conclusions 
concerning the negro's possibilities in this country are fre- 



CONCLUSION. 129 

quently drawn from a study of the various small negro re- 
publics, such as Haiti, Santo Domingo and Liberia, and opin- 
ions so arrived at are not without their value. Yet there are 
differences between the position of the American negro and 
that of the negro in the isolated states in question. It should 
be noticed that the number of American negroes is larger 
than the number in any of the negro republics. Progress de- 
pends upon the s<ize of a group as well as upon its average 
capacity. Other things being equal, the larger group will pro- 
duce more very able individuals, and such individuals, as was 
previously pointed out, furnish the ideas and the inspiration 
for the whole group. And the American negro is in much 
closer contact with the white race than are the inhabitants 
of the independent negro countries. This contact gives him 
the advantage of white encouragement, achievement, example 
and control, and enables him to appropriate to his own use 
the products of white genius. Races, or nations, between 
which there is free intercommunication make greater progress 
than do isolated peoples, for the results of the ability of one 
race are more readily taken over and incorporated into the 
life of the other. Hence we may reasonably expect the col- 
ored people of America to show a higher type of civilization 
than those of their race who are differently situated, even 
though the native ability of the negro is everywhere the 
same. 

In this connection Thomdike writes as follows: "The orig- 
ination of advances in civilization is a measure of ability, but 
the abilities that have originated them have probably been 
confined to a very few men. A race that originated none of 
them may now possess them all. Even if a race has been 
completely isolated, its civililzation has been originated by 
only a few of its members; and the chance of men of great 
gifts being born is the result not only of the central ten- 
dency of a race and its variability, but also of its size. Other 
things being equal, there is a far greater chance of the birth 
of a man of great ability in a tribe of a million than in one 
of a thousand. Since one such man may add to the knowl- 
edge and improve the habits of the entire group regardless 
of its size, civilization will progress more rapidly in large 
than in small groups, in a condition of isolation. 

"The civilized races have not remained isolated and have 
got most of their civilization from without. Of ten equally 



130 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

gifted races in perfect intercourse each will originate only 
one-tenth of what it gets. The original nature of tlie Ger- 
mans of to-day is not much different from that of their an- 
cestors in the time of Tacitus, and their progress in the mean- 
time is not properly theirs, but that of the European world 
and its American colony, each of whose racial stocks has 
added something to the common fund." ('10, p. 67). 

But probably the greatest difference between the American 
negro and the members of his race in the relatively isolated 
negro communities elsewhere, will eventually be found in the 
greater amount of white blood which the American negro 
will possess. In the course of generations, if the present or 
a similar rate of white admixture continues, there will be few 
if any pure negroes remaining in the United States. The 
whole of our colored population will be mulatto, and as time 
passes the proportion of white blood will increase. This will 
be inevitable from the fact that white blood once infused into 
the negro community will remain there and be continued 
by intermarriage among the negroes from generation to gen- 
eration. The white blood in a mulatto does not return to the 
white race through intermarriage; the white stock will re- 
main pure. It is among the negroes that a mulatto's white 
inheritance is diffused. Such a continued raising of the 
amount of white blood in the negroes is of course dependent 
upon a continuance of some degree of race intermixture; but 
there is no valid reason for believing that intermixture will 
wholly cease. 

This consideration will in time work a great change in the 
race problem in America, and it may both simplify and com- 
plicate the interracial situation. On the one hand, the negro 
will have greater ability, and there will be less difference 
between the races. The standard of colored achievement will 
be higher. But on the other hand, race friction may be in- 
creased. The mulatto is not as tractable or as submissive to 
white domination as is the pure negro. He thinks and feels 
more nearly as does the white man. And he cannot be con- 
tent with the social restrictions that are thrown around him. 
In our own time these tendencies seem to be already evident. 
The very considerable progress that the negro has made has 
been in large measure due to mulattoes. And it is mainly 
the mulattoes who have so largely done away with that type 
of negro which was content to regard itself as the natural 



CONCLUSION. 131 

dependent of the white. It seems probable, indeed, that the 
excessive criminal and immoral tendencies sometimes charged 
to the mulatto may be due, if they exist at all, to the fact 
of his recognition of his ability and his resentment at the 
position of inferiority in which he is placed. 

The statement is frequently made that mulattoes are of a 
less hardy physical nature than are pure negroes, and that 
their death rate is therefore higher. There is no reliable 
evidence of this. On the contrary, there is a not unfounded 
opinion that half-breeds from colored Asiastic and white 
European stock are longer lived than the original races from 
which they spring. 

There is evidence that the colored population as a whole 
has a considerably higher death rate than the white. In the 
U. S. Census ('13) are given the death rates for different 
classes of the population in the area of registration. This 
area embraces twenty-three states in the North and the West, 
and certain cities but no states in the South. The death rate 
for native whites, per 1000, is 15.7 ; for foreign-born whites it 
is 18.9; for negroes it is 25.0. In Washington, D. C, the 
white death rate is 15.5; the colored is 26.6 In Baltimore, 
the white death rate is 16.2; the colored is 30.9. In New 
Orleans, the white death rate is 16.6 ; the colored is 31.2. At 
all ages the colored death rate is the higher. In the Vir- 
ginia cities, Alexandria, Danville, Lynchburg, Norfolk, Peters- 
burg, Richmond and Roanoke, the average death rate for 
both races combined is 20.6. But in these cities there are 
3502 deaths of negroes to 3429 deaths of whites, and yet the 
colored population is only about one-half as numerous as the 
white. The life insurance companies recognize this greater 
mortality among the negroes. The ratio of actual to expected 
deaths among negro men is reported as follows in the Med- 
ico-Actuarial Mortality Investigation ('13) : Negro ministers, 
teachers and other professional men, 137 per cent. ; all other 
colored men, 147 per cent. It may be added that the ratio 
for North American Indians is 124 per cent. 

The greater colored mortality is probably due to a number 
of causes. The fact that the higher class of negro men has 
a lower death rate would indicate that the insanitary condi- 
tions of negro life are a factor. And the nature of the most 
prevalent diseases among the negroes would also point to this. 
Tuberculosis, for instance, is the cause of death for 405.3 ne- 



132 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

groes and 126.2 whites per 100,000 population of each race. 
As better living conditions are established among our col- 
ored population it is reasonable to suppose that their death 
rate will not be relatively so much greater than that of the 
whites. But on the other hand, it is also probably true that 
the natural constitution of the negro is a factor in produciner 
his greater mortality in America. 

However this may be, it is a fact that the negroes in this 
country have increased less rapidly than the whites in recent 
years in proportion to their numbers, despite the general 
opinion that they are more prolific in offspring. In the coun- 
try at large, between 1900 and 1910, the native whites of 
native parentage increased 20.9 per cent.; the native whites 
of foreign or mixed percentage increased 20.8 per cent. But 
the negroes increased only 11.2 per cent., and in the South 
the percentages of increase for the two races are approxi- 
mately the same as those for the nation. 



REFERENCES. 



133 



Authors and Titles Specifically Referred to in the Text 



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Bagley, W. C '09. 

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Bardin, J '13. 

Bean, R. B '06. 

Binet, A '03. 

Boas, F '94. 

'01. 



Bourdon, B '95. 

Brown, W '11. 

Bruner, F. G '14. 

Burt, C '11. 



Cattell, J. McK., and 
Farrand, L '96. 



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, . .. , 

'13. 

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Ebbinghaus, H '97. 



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Psych. Rev., 2, 475-486. 

Recent Studies on Periodicity in Mental 
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The Learning of Delinquent Adolescent 
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The Psychological Factor in Southern 
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Some Racial Peculiarities of the Negro 
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134 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

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^ 



136 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 



Appendix — The Tests 



Mixed Relations Test I. 


Mixed Relations Test II. 


Eye — see 


Ear- 


Good — ^bad 


Long — 


Monday — Tuesday 


April — 


Eagle — bird 


Shark- 


Do— did 


See 


Eat — ^bread 


Drink — 


Bird — sings 


Dog- 


Fruit — orange 


Vegetable 


Hour — minute 


Minute — 


Sit — chair 


Sleep — 


Straw — hat 


Leather — 


Double — two 


Triple- 


Cloud — rain 


Sun- 


England — London 


France — 


Hammer — tool 


Dictionary— 


• Chew — ^teeth 


Smell- 


Uncle — aunt 


Brother — 


Pen — ^write 


Knife 


Dog — ^puppy 


Cat- 


Water — wet 


Fire — 


Little — less 


Much- 


He — him 


She- 


Wash — face 


Sweep — 


Boat — water 


Train — 


House — room 


Book- 


Crawl — snake 


Swim — 


Sky— blue 


Grass — - 


Horse — colt 


Cow — 


Swim — water 


Fly- 


Nose — face 


Toe 


Once — one 


Twice — 


Bad — ^worse 


Good- 


Cat — fur 


Bird- 


Hungry — food 


Thirsty— 


Pan — tin 


Table 


Hat — head 


Glove — 


Buy — sell 


Come — 


Ship — captain 


Army — 


Oyster — shell 


Banana — 


Man — ^woman 


Boy— 



APPENDIX. 137 

Completion Test 

On each line of dots write the word which makes the best 
meaning. 

23. The poor baby as if it were sick. 

24. The rises the morning and 

at night. 

25. The child river was 

drowned. 

26. Boys who play mud get their 

hands 

27. It is good to hear voice 

friend. 

28. The poor little ........ has nothing to 

; he is hungry. 

29. Boys and soon become and women 

30. The boy who hard do well. 

31. She if she will. 

32. One's do always express his 

thoughts. 

33. Very few people how to spend time and 

to the best advantage. 

34. It is a task to be kind to every beggar 

for money. 

35. Brothers and sisters always to 

help other and should quarrel. 

36. Worry never improved a situation but has 

made conditions 

37. Men usually more to do heavy 

work women. 

38 weather usually a good effect 

one's spirits. 

39. If a person injures one by , without having 

intended any , one should 

insulted. 

40. A shelter the weather is appreci- 

ated on a day. 

41. It is very to become acquainted 

persons who timid. 

42. The best advice usually obtained 

one's parents. 



138 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NEGRO. 

43. A home is merely a place one 

live comfortably. 

44. The sun is so that one can not 

directly causing great 

discomfort to the eyes. 

45. To many things ever finishing any 

of them a habit. 

46 are imes in the of almost 

of us when we for a long life. 

47. Children should that after all nobody is 

to care much more their success 

than parents. 

Maze Test — (three-fifths original size). 

jijijiinuryiJi 
jrynLFyryiyiJii 
jijnyjiJiynun^ 
jiJTunununur^ 

Cdncellation Test 

OYKFIUDBHTAGDAACDIXAMRPAGQZTAACVAOWLYX 

WABBTHJJANEEFAAMEAACBSVSKALLPHANRNPKAZF 

YRQAQEAXJUDFOIMWZSAUCGVAOABMAYDYAAZJDAL 

JACINEVBGAOFHARPVEJCTQZAPJLEIQWNAHRBUIAS 

SNZMWAAAWHACAXHXQAXTDPUTYGSKGRKVLGKIM 

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Vita 

The author of this monograph was born in Leesburg, Vir- 
ginia, Nov. 16, 1886. His education was obtained in the 
public schools of his native town, at the College of William 
and Mary, the University of Virginia and Columbia Uni- 
versity. In 1905 he received the degree of L. I. from William 
and Mary, and in 1907 the degree of B. A. from the same in- 
stitution. In 1911 he received the degree of M. A. from 
Columbia University. 









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